Praise
“Antony Fangary has a unique and harrowing American story to tell. His masterstroke as author was to alternate Coptic prayers with personal revelation: “my father was proud of my skin when I was born / my mother says he showed me to everyone in the hospital / a brown man with a son white as an ostrich egg / the American dream // Lord, look with / Merciful eyes / At my weakness / At my disgrace.” This book is the perfect example of the literature we should be reading, to open our eyes to the world and thereby to know ourselves.”
Paul Hoover, editor of Postmodern American Poetry: A Norton Anthology
“Through even psychic journeys home, Fangary quarries the oaths we have grown numb to. Hiding from no one, here is a wanderer who has written poems on the film layer of his eyes. In the war and peace of imperialist myth, poems written on behalf of we who don’t exist. And gentle paper for the prayers of our grandmothers’ tongues.”
Tongo Eisen-Martin, Poet Laureate of San Francisco
"t is crucial for Egypt’s contemporary literature scene to reflect the diverse voices which live in it. One perpetually missing voice is that of Copts in literature, whether fiction or nonfiction. Antony Fangary...poignantly reflects the themes of faith, discrimination, identity and Coptic Christianity in his work. The San-Francisco based writer’s work overflows with emotion and powerful imagery. It suffuses typical language of Egyptian Coptic culture, such as ‘orban’, ‘ezayak’ and ‘abouna’ (father) into the largely English-written poetry, also evoking local places and practices."
Egyptian Streets Magazine