{"product_id":"a-good-country-9781632865847","title":"A Good Country","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Good Country\u003c\/strong\u003e by Khadivi, Laleh. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781632865847.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA timely novel about the radicalization of a Muslim teen in California--about where identity truly lies, and how we find it.\n\nLaguna Beach, California, 2011. Alireza Courdee, a 16-year-old straight-A student and chemistry whiz, takes his first hit of pot. In as long as it takes to inhale and exhale, he is transformed from the high-achieving son of Iranian immigrants into a happy-go-lucky stoner. He loses his virginity, takes up surfing, and sneaks away to all-night raves. For the first time, Reza--now Rez--feels like an American teen. Life is smooth; even lying to his strict parents comes easily.\n\nBut then he changes again, falling out with the bad boy surfers and in with a group of kids more awake to the world around them, who share his background, and whose ideas fill him with a very different sense of purpose. Within a year, Reza and his girlfriend are making their way to Syria to be part of a Muslim nation rising from the ashes of the civil war.\n\nTimely, nuanced, and emotionally forceful, A Good Country is a gorgeous meditation on modern life, religious radicalization, and a young man caught among vastly different worlds. What we are left with at the dramatic end is not an assessment of good or evil, east versus west, but a lingering question that applies to all modern souls: Do we decide how to live, or is our life decided for us?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44423927595061,"sku":"ByrdShop_163286584X","price":28.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781632865847_0f314f2b-c27b-4656-9f05-b63b5566e59d.jpg?v=1784154484","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/a-good-country-9781632865847","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}