Timothy Brennan Boeken

'An intimate portrait ... Critical, generous and heartfelt' Ahdaf Soueif, Guardian 'An intriguing account of an alluring but evasive character Daily Telegraph Drawing on extensive archival sources and hundreds of interviews, Timothy Brennans Places of Mind is the first comprehensive biography of Said, one of the most controversial and celebrated intellectuals of the 20th century. In Brennans masterful work, Said, the pioneer of post-colonial studies, a tireless champion for his native Palestine, and an erudite literary critic, emerges as a self-doubting, tender, and eloquent advocate of literatures dramatic effects on politics and civic life. Places of Mind charts the intertwined routes of Saids intellectual development, revealing him as a study in opposites: a cajoler and strategist, a New York intellectual with a foot in Beirut, an orchestra impresario in Weimar and Ramallah, a raconteur on national television, a Palestinian negotiator at the State Department, and an actor in films in which he played himself. Brennan traces the Arab influences of Saids thinking along with his tutelage under Lebanese statesmen, off-beat modernist auteurs, and New York literati, as Said grew into a scholar whose influential writings changed the face of university life forever. With both intimidating brilliance and charm, Said turned these resources into a groundbreaking counter-tradition of radical humanism, set against the backdrop of techno-scientific dominance and religious war. With unparalleled clarity, Said gave the humanities a new authority in the age of Reaganism that continues today. Drawing on the testimonies of family, friends, students, and antagonists alike, and aided by FBI files, unpublished writing, and Saids drafts of novels and personal letters, Places of Mind captures Saids intellectual breadth and influence in an unprecedented, intimate, and compelling portrait of one of the great minds of the twentieth century

The book explores the concept of cosmopolitics, emphasizing the need to strengthen democratic values within international relations. It argues that the current state of world politics is fragile and advocates for a conscious effort to apply democratic principles globally. The writers suggest that fostering shared democratic values is essential for a more stable and cooperative international community.

"A biography of the Palestinian thinker Edward Said"-- Provided by publisher

"In highlighting the shift in America's intellectual culture, Brennan makes the case for seeing belief as an identity. As much as race or ethnicity, political belief, Brennan argues, is itself an identity - one that remains unrecognized and without legal protections while possessing its own distinctive culture. Brennan also champions the idea of cosmopolitanism and critiques those theorists who relegate the left to the status of postcolonial "other.""