Reviews

Kirkus Reviews, December 2013

Best books of 2013 for vicarious experiences you’ll never forget

Elif Shafak, Literary Review, 3 May 2013

For a moment I feel a strong urge to speak with these women, to enquire about their sexual lives, past and present, real and imaginary. I don’t, but the author of Sex and the Citadel has performed this daunting task – raising ‘unabashed’ questions and searching for honest answers, trying to render visible the invisible and to give voice to the real stories behind the wall of silence.

Pauline Mouhanna, L’Hebdo Magazine, 3 May 2013

Depuis sa publication outre-Atlantique, le livre de la journaliste Shereen El Feki, Sex and the citadel, provoque plusieurs questions et débats au sein du monde journalistique. Les médias américains s’interrogent si les soulèvements politiques qui ont touché des pays arabes seront suivis par des évolutions sociales. La réponse est apportée dans ce nouveau livre.

Sonalika S and Meenkashi Kumar, India Writes, 1 May 2013

“In the Arab world, explains an Egyptian gynaecologist, sex is the opposite of sport: ‘everyone talks about football, but hardly anyone plays it. But sex — everyone is doing it, but nobody wants to talk about it,” writes Shereen El Feki in her book Sex and the Citadel.

The Daily Beast, 30 Apr 2013

In Egypt, women must go to great lengths to prove chastity.

TimeOut Beirut, 18 Apr 2013

If you really want to know a people, start by looking inside their bedrooms’. In this comprehensive new exploration of sex in the Arab world that’s exactly what Shereen El Feki does, in an insightful rather than voyeuristic way of course.

DW, 17 Apr 2013

في ظل المتغيرات السياسية التي عمت المنطقة العربية، ترى الكاتبة شيرين الفقي في كتابها “الجنس والقلعة” ضرورة قيام ثورة اجتماعية تجعل الجنس مباحا في الخطاب العام، لأن حظر .الحديث عنه مؤشر عن “ضغف” الممارسة الديموقراطية

Felicia Englmann, Frankfurter Allgemeine, 15 Apr 2013

Die Angst vor der Selbst-bestimmung verstehen lernen: Shereen El Feki erforscht das Liebesleben der arabischen Welt–und findet stattdessen Sexismus im Alltag.

India Stoughton, Daily Star Lebanon, 13 Apr 2013

For many interested outside observers, one aspect of life in the Arab world that remains more or less shrouded in mystery is sex and sexuality.

“Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World,” is a fascinating exploration of sexual culture, based on a well-balanced mixture of history, statistical information gleaned from the few surveys conducted by various NGOs, and first-hand interviews, which in many cases show that the official studies have barely scratched the surface.

Fabienne Rzitki, Focus Online, 13 Apr 2013

Der Koran und Pornos, Schleier und Vibratoren – die Autorin Shereen El Feki wagt sich an ein Tabu: Sex im Orient. Der Blick in arabische Schlafzimmer zeigt: Die Lust wird totgeschwiegen. Doch das war nicht immer so.

Jonathan Richards, Sante Fe New Mexican, 12 Apr 2013

“If you really want to know a people, start by looking inside their bedrooms,” Shereen El Feki writes in the introduction to Sex and the Citadel.

To judge this book by its cover, you’d expect a lighthearted approach to a provocative subject. The title cleverly plays on the steamy HBO sitcom Sex and the City, and the dust jacket offers a slyly ribald visual pun on the crescent moon and star of Islam. If you have fatwas, prepare to hurl them now.

Dominic Bocci, Muftah, 10 Apr 2013

For many in Tahrir Square circa 2011, the Arab Spring promised to bring revolutionary change to Egypt, whether social, cultural, political, and/or sexual.

Shahidha Bari, The Times Higher Education Supplement, 3 Apr 2013

In our first dedicated book-themed podcast, Shahidha Bari, lecturer in Romanticism at Queen Mary, University of London, discusses her review of Shereen El Feki’s Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World with Times Higher Education’s books editor Karen Shook.

Rashid Boutayeb, Al-Hudhud, 3 Apr 2013

.نفتح أعيننا -ونغلقها طبعا!- في المجتمعات العربية على السلطة قبل أن نفتحها على الجسد، بل قد يكون الجسد الغائبَ الأكبر عن الثقافة العربية المعاصرة

Rayyan Al-Shawaf, The Boston Globe, 2 Apr 2013

‘How I came to be demonstrating sex toys to a coffee morning of Cairo housewives is a long story.”

With Shereen El Feki musing thus in her introduction to “Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World,” any suspicion that her book is dry and academic evaporates.

Necla Kelek, Die Zeit, 2 Apr 2013

Shereen el Feki hat ein Buch über Sex in den arabischen Ländern geschrieben. Von der Ehe bis zur männlichen Prostitution verrät es dem Westen sämtliche Geheimnisse des islamischen Geschlechterlebens.

Sybille Peine, Braunschweiger Zeitung, 1 Apr 2013

Die Journalistin Shereen El Feki greift in ihrem Sachbuch „Sex und die Zitadelle“ ein Tabuthema auf

The Economist, 30 Mar 2013

Shereen El Feki is a brave woman. Spending five years quizzing Arabs about the intimate details of their sex lives is no easy task.

John Bradley, The Spectator Life, 30 Mar 2013

A meeting with Shereen El Feki, author of Sex and the Citadel, a book exploring sexual mores in the modern Arab world

Jeff Heinrich, The Gazette, 29 Mar 2013

The power of sex in the Arab world. Author Shereen El Feki sheds light on the rules of engagement and hypocrisy

Shahidha Bari, Times Higher Education Supplement, 28 Mar 2013

Shahidha Bari considers an exploration of desire and denial amid Egypt’s shifting sands

Claudia Kramatschek, Qantara.de, 27 Mar 2013

Journalist Shereen El Feki feels that the taboo surrounding all subjects relating to sexuality in public discourse in the Arab world is not only an ideological deficit, but also dangerous, due to what she sees as a shocking lack of knowledge across the board.

Robert Fulford, The National Post, 26 Mar 2013

Fulford: Sex and the Citadel takes readers into Arab bedrooms

i (The Paper for Today), 25 Mar 2013

From the saucy to the solemn, this journey into erotic underworlds across the Arab lands proves both brave and sensitive.

The Week, 20 Mar 2013 (Book of the Week)

“No one could ever accuse Shereen El Feki of lacking in courage,” said Caroline Morehead in The Spectator.

More here…

Yatin Gupta, Me About My Thoughts, 20 Mar 2013

“If you really want to know a people, start by looking inside their bedrooms.”

Michèle Biswanger, Tages Anzeiger, 20 Mar 2013

Es ist die Gretchenfrage des Westens an den Nahen Osten: Wie haltet ihrs mit dem Sex? Shereen El Feki hat ein umfangreiches Buch über das Liebesleben in der sich wandelnden islamischen Welt geschrieben.

Steve Carroll, The Saturday Age, 16 Mar 2013 (Pick of the Week)

This detailed and lively analysis of changing attitudes to sex inside the Arab world focuses on case studies that took years to assemble, concentrating on Egypt and Cairo.

Arifa Akbar, The Independent, 15 Mar 2013

This survey of sexual habits across the Arab world is as serious-minded as it is entertaining.

Roula Khalaf, FT, 15 Mar 2013

When it comes to sexuality, writes Shereen El Feki, the Arab world can seem like an “impregnable fortress”. But, as she discovers in Sex and the Citadel , there are also plenty of people who seek to pierce the wall of hypocrisy and talk openly about the subject.

G. Willow Wilson, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Mar 2013

It is into this troubling political reality that the cheekily titled, eminently readable “Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World” wades. Author Shereen El Feki, born to an Egyptian father and a Welsh mother, is well traveled in the journey between civilizations, and chooses sex – the most universal and tumultuous of intimacies – as a topic of inquiry into the differences between the two.

Sarah Maria Deckert, Cicero, 13 Mar 2013

Um ein Volk zu verstehen, muss man einen Blick in seine Schlafzimmer werfen, meint Shereen El Feki. So erklärt sie auch die Entwicklungen in ihrer arabischen Heimat.

Malu Halasa, Times Literary Supplement, 12 Mar 2013

In 2008, when Shereen El Feki began researching Sex and the Citadel, she and a group of Cairene women virtually adopted each other.

Brian Whitaker, Now Lebanon, 12 Mar 2013

Sex and politics may seem like strange bedfellows but they are often closer than we think.

Alexandra Senfft, Die Tageszeitung, 12 Mar 2013

ALLTAG Shereen El Feki hat fünf Jahre lang die arabische Welt bereist, um Gespräche über die Intimsphäre der Menschen zu führen. Heraus- gekommen ist ein Buch, das neue Perspektiven auf komplexe Zusam- menhänge bietet.

Jenni Russell, The Sunday Times, 10 Mar 2013

This in-depth investigation of Muslim sexual mores lifts the lid on a hidden world of compromise and covert behaviour.

Rachel Halliburton, The Independent, 9 Mar 2013

“In the Arab world, sex is the opposite of sport. Everyone talks about football, but hardly anyone plays it. But sex – everyone is doing it, but nobody wants to talk about it.” So declares one interviewee at the start of Shereen El Feki’s remarkable book.

Nicholas Blincoe, The Daily Telegraph, 9 Mar 2013 (four-star review)

Could the Arab Spring provoke a sexual revolution in the Middle East, asks Nicholas Blincoe.

Darren Richard Carlaw, New York Journal of Books, 8 Mar 2013

“The result is a timely, thought provoking, and highly readable study.”

Liane von Billerbeck, Deutschlandradio Kultur, 8 Mar 2013

Man müsse versuchen, die Offenheit in der Sexualität wiederzufinden, sagt die Immunologin Shereen El Feki. Erst wenn die Frauen die Gewalt haben, über ihren eigenen Körper zu entscheiden, könne man erwarten, dass sie politisch partizipieren und an der Gesellschaft teilnehmen.

Constanze Neuhaus, ORF.AT–Kontext, 8 Mar 2013

Das Lieblingsthema des Menschen, ein Tabu im Islam? So einfach ist es nicht. Fünf Jahre lang befragte die Journalistin Shereen El Feki Menschen in Ägypten und anderen Teilen der arabischen Welt zu ihrem Sexualverhalten. Dabei herausgekommen ist ihr Buch “Sex und die Zitadelle”.

Claudia Decker, BR, 8 Mar 2013

Die Journalistin Shereen El Feki richtet ihr Augenmerk auf das Privatleben der Menschen. In ihrem Buch “Sex und die Zitadelle” beschreibt sie, inwiefern die Umbrüche in der arabischen Welt auch das Liebesleben der Menschen revolutioniert hat.

Penny Batchelor, We Love This Book, 6 Mar 2013

The Arab Spring uprisings not only brought a with them a call for democracy, but a plea from some young people for more openness in the region with regards to sex and sexuality. In an era where strict social conventions govern sexual relations, young people’s attitudes are diverging from those of their parents.

Faramerz Dabhoiwala, The Guardian, 6 Mar 2013

Shereen El Feki’s exploration of sexual politics in the Arab world is insightful and optimistic, but reveals little sign of change.

Catherine Newmark, Deutschlandradio Kultur, 6 Mar 2013

Die äußerst strenge Sexualmoral in Ägypten muss sich lockern, davon ist Shereen El Feki überzeugt. Denn allein ein politischer Wandel helfe den Menschen nicht. In ihrem anekdotenreichen Buch über unbefriedigenden Sex in der Ehe und unerlaubten Sex vor der Ehe verurteilt sie die Gesellschaft dennoch nicht, sondern will helfen, sie zu verstehen.

Brian Whitaker, Now Lebanon, 6 Mar 2013

الجنس في العالم العربي: كتاب يفتح بوابة المحرمات

Tina Jackson, Metro Today’s Read, 5 Mar 2013

Following the Arab Spring and the Egyptian revolution, Shereen El Feki asks whether recent revolutionary events are reflected in the intimate lives of Arab women.

Richard Davenport Hines, The Sunday Telegraph, 3 Mar 2013

The frisky title of Shereen El Feki’s book, with its allusion to Candace Bushnell and Sarah Jessica Parker, is a measure of what you get… As one would expect from this background, she has broad sympathies. She also has a bold, punchy way of expressing herself.

Doug Saunders, The Globe and Mail, 2 Mar 2013

There was something enthralling in the sight, on Thursday night, of young Egyptians, some clad in underwear, making rhythmic pelvic thrusts in front of the Cairo headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Harlem Shake is an unlikely medium of revolution, but the dance craze this week became the latest front in the showdown between Islamic politics and the drive toward individualism and independence.

More here…
Excerpt here…

The GQ Book Club, 1 Mar 2013

Yes, that really is the title of this serious and groundbreaking study of what goes on in bedrooms away from the public turmoil taking place in Egypt. It also reappraises the sexual history of the Arab world, in turn asking what the future may hold.

Caroline Moorehead, The Spectator, 28 Feb 2013

No one could ever accuse Shereen El Feki of lacking in courage. To spend five years travelling around the Arab world in search of dildos, questioning women about foreplay and anal sex, is not a task many writers would relish. Sex and the Citadel is a bold, meticulously researched mini Kinsey Report, rich in anecdote and statistics.

Daisy Goodwin, Mail on Sunday, 24 Feb 2013 (four-star review)

In prudish Victorian England, the Arab world was a byword for all things louche and exotic.

Susanne Schanda, Neue Zürcher Zeitung Bücher am Sonntag, 24 Feb 2013

Zwei Jahre nach Beginn der Volksaufstände in der arabischen Welt ist die Zeit reif für eine Zwischenbilanz. Was ist aus der euphorischen Aufbruchsstimmung geworden?

Margit Miosga, RBB Kulturradio-Zeitpunkte, 24 Feb 2013

Sex und die Zitadelle

Der Tagesspiegel, 23 Feb 2013

Fünf Jahre lang hat die Immunologin und Journalistin Shereen El Feki Menschen in der arabischen Welt zu ihrer Sexualität befragt. Sie zeigt: Im Privatleben spiegelt sich das Ringen zwischen alten Restriktionen und Aufbruch.

Janice Turner, Saturday Review in The Times, 23 Feb 2013 (Book of the Week)

In August when rich Saudis flee the desert heat, Selfridges throngs with full-veiled women buying clinging D&G dresses or a grand’s worth of La Perla lingerie. Whose fantasy is this, I always wonder?

Claudia Kramatschek, WDR 3-Mosaik, 22 Feb 2013

Es war ein sicher symbolischer Moment, als Frauen und Männer während des Höhepunktes der arabischen Rebellion Tag und Nacht auf dem Tahrir-Platz in Kairo friedlich neben- und miteinander protestieren konnten. Der Anfang einer neuen, offeneren Gesellschaft?

Francesca Paci, La Stampa, 17 Feb 2013

Non c’è lavoro, i giovani non hanno soldi per sposarsi e trovano sfogo nella piazza

Anne-Catherine Simon, Die Presse, 15 Feb 2013

“Sex und die Zitadelle”: In den Schlafzimmern des Arabischen Frühlings sieht es nicht gut aus, meint die Immunologin und Journalistin Shereen El Feki. Das behindere die politische Freiheit.

Colleen Mondor, Booklist, 15 Feb 2013

Journalist El Feki, with familial roots deep in Egypt, delves into a sensitive, rarely addressed topic in this tour de force on Arab life.

VORGEBLÄTTERT, Perlentaucher, 11 Feb 2013

Fünf Jahre lang hat Shereen El Feki, Immunologin und Journalistin, Männern und Frauen in der arabischen Welt Fragen rund um das Thema Sex gestellt: Was sie selbst tun, was sie nicht tun, was sie über Sexualität denken und warum. Für El Feki ist die Sexualität ein Spiegel der gesellschaftlichen Verhältnisse, die zur Arabellion führten. Lesen Sie hier einen Auszug aus “Sex und die Zitadelle”.

Carlin Romano, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 14 Jan 2013

Is it possible all those young men clashing in the streets of Cairo and Damascus aren’t getting enough? Democracy? No, I mean that other thing people seek and are willing to die for.