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From the women's section of the Shield of Young David synagogue to the antiseptic halls of Sloan-Kettering, from the alienating "high prep" of Vassar College to the gritty newsroom of The Arrogant Years New York Post, Lagnado's taut and moving memoir continues the story she started in the award-winning memoir of her family's exile from Egypt, "The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit. Spurred on by the example of Emma Peel - the heroine of the TV show "The Avengers" - Lagnado decides to transgress the mechitza that separates the "solemn, purposeful" world of the men from the "gossipy, trivial, inconsequential world" of the women's section. I wanted to demolish our wooden enclosure, to smash it into a thousand pieces. The mechitza avenging is only partially successful, but it sets Lagnado down a path that leads her eventually to a successful career as reporter at the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal. But "The Arrogant Years" is not a triumphalism narrative of assimilation and success. Between Brooklyn and her first forays into journalism, Lagnado struggles with The Arrogant Years, poverty and, at the height of her arrogant years, a diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease. Alongside her own, very American story of ambition, opportunity and challenges overcome, Lagnado juxtaposes the The Arrogant Years of her mother, Edith, from Cairo to Brooklyn, a story that takes us from the magnificent private library of the Egyptian Jewish notable Pasha Cattaui to the cataloging department of the Brooklyn Public Library. Exiled relatively late in life, Lagnado's mother and father spend much of their later years struggling to regain the elegance and social cohesion of their life in Cairo. Lagnado's mother has a particularly difficult time adapting to the relatively constrained circumstances in which she finds herself. Eventually, she takes matters into her own hands. Without consulting anyone in the family, Edith applies for a position in the library. Although she didn't have so much as a high school equivalency diploma, "she was able to draw on her vast store of knowledge and her literary sensibility to persuade the library to hire her practically on the spot. Toward the end of the book, the two stories become a single strand. As her mother's health begins to decline, Lagnado's life is subsumed with her fight against a The Arrogant Years health care system, lobbing "grenades into The Arrogant Years immense black The Arrogant Years of a system that seemed impervious to my attacks. We had, together, reached the The Arrogant Years section. Through longing, struggle, triumph and no small amount of avenging, The Arrogant Years two intermingled lives serve as a meditation on exile and assimilation, feminism and the enduring ties of family. E-mail comments to books sfchronicle. Top shopping picks. THE ARROGANT YEARS | Kirkus Reviews

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We use cookies to provide our servicesfor example, to keep track of items stored in your shopping basket, prevent fraudulent activity, improve the security of our The Arrogant Years, keep track of your specific preferences e. Performance and Analytics. ON OFF. We use cookies to serve you certain types The Arrogant Years adsincluding ads relevant to your interests on Book Depository and to work with approved third parties in the process of delivering ad content, including ads relevant to your interests, to measure the effectiveness of their ads, and to perform services on behalf of Book Depository. Cancel Save settings. Home Contact us Help Free delivery worldwide. Free delivery worldwide. Bestselling Series. Harry Potter. Popular Features. Home Learning. Description In the award-winning "The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit", Lucette Lagnado offered a heartbreaking portrait of her father, Leon, a successful Cairo boulevardier forced to take flight with his family during the rise of the Nasser dictatorship, The Arrogant Years of her family's struggle to rebuild a new life in a new land. Lagnado then revisits her own early years in America-first, as a schoolgirl in Brooklyn's immigrant enclaves, where she dreams of becoming the fearless Mrs. Emma Peel of "The Avengers", and later, as an avenging reporter for some of The Arrogant Years adopted country's most prestigious newspapers. A stranger growing up in a strange land, Lagnado reveals how her adolescence was further complicated by cancer at sixteen. The devastating consequences would rob her of her "arrogant years" - the period defined by an overwhelming sense of possibility, invincibility, and confidence. Lagnado looks to the women sequestered behind the wooden screen at her childhood synagogue, to the young coeds at Vassar and Columbia in the s, to her own mother and the women of their past in Cairo, and reflects on their stories as she struggles to make sense of her own choices. Back cover copy In the follow-up to her beloved, The Arrogant Years The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit, Lagnado tells the story of her mother, Edith, coming of age in a magical old Cairo of dusty alleyways and grand villas. Then Lagnado revisits her own years in America--as a schoolgirl in Brooklyn's immigrant The Arrogant Years, where she dreams of becoming the fearless Mrs. Emma Peel of The Avengers, coming of age in the turbulence of New York City's s, and, later, as an avenging reporter for some of America's most prestigious newspapers. Not only a searing account of strangers in a strange land, The Arrogant Years is a lasting meditation on exile and assimilation, feminism and the enduring ties of family. San Francisco Chronicle show more. Review quote "[E]nchanting It's risky to write a second memoir about the same time period, but in Lagnado's hands, the result feels natural and right. She skillfully reminds us that a single human The Arrogant Years is infinitely complex, that there are as many sides to a story as times it is told. Lagnado's, more painfully, but also more fully, than others. With a journalist's economy of style and an intuitive sense of story, The Arrogant Years weaves an account of The Arrogant Years own arrogant years The Arrogant Years writes with great affection and compassion for her mother, and she describes displacement and the urgency of memory. It is also a portrait of awe-inspiring caregiving by a loving daughter. Lagnado's done a fabulous job, again, of transporting us to a multi-ethnic Cairo that no longer exists. That alone The Arrogant Years worth the price of admission. The Arrogant Years is a lovely book, sad and hilarious by turn, written with love of life, The Arrogant Years an enormous affection for language. You will love it too. Lagnado is spellbinding and profoundly elucidating in this vividly detailed and far-reaching The Arrogant Years memoir of epic adversity and hard-won selfhood. Vivid and evocative Josef Mengele and the Untold Story of the Twins of Auschwitz, The Arrogant Years has been translated into nearly a dozen foreign languages. Joining the Wall Street Journal inshe has received numerous awards and is currently a senior special writer and investigative reporter. Rating details. Book ratings by Goodreads. Goodreads is the world's largest site for readers with over 50 million reviews. We're featuring millions of their The Arrogant Years ratings on our book pages to help you find your new favourite book. Close X. Learn about new offers and get more deals by joining our newsletter. Sign up now. Follow us. Coronavirus delivery updates. 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Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. In her extraordinary follow-up memoir, The Arrogant YearsLagnado revisits her The Arrogant Years years in America, and describes a difficult coming-of-age tragically interrupted by a bout with cancer at age Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. More Details Other Editions 6. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Arrogant Yearsplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Oct 07, Brina rated it it The Arrogant Years amazing Shelves: jewish-booksmemoirs. This second memoir writes of her mother's life and then her own in America. I found Edith a complex person of faith. In Sharkskin Suit I saw her as timid and weak and unable to stand up to her husband Leon. It was as though once she married, her vivid life had ended. Yet once in America, her daughter paints a different picture. It is Edith who struggles to maintain the Levantine traditions- in the kitchen, in shul, holiday observances, her attempts to get Lucette into a French school. Additionally, she as an army of one nurtures The Arrogant Years daughter back to health and lovingly guides her through her college years. Edith is anything but the subjugated woman I found in Sharkskin. I recommend both memoirs to anyone who want both an uplifting read and who want to discover more about Jewish Egypt. I intend to follow the author's columns in the WSJ and look forward to any book she The Arrogant Years write in the future. Oct 07, Doug Feiden rated it it was amazing. Almost inconceivable that Lagnado could surpass "Man in the White Sharkskin Suit," but she does exactly that in this haunting and heartbreaking companion memoir. Every single chapter -- The Arrogant Years, make that every single page -- seems to grab the reader by the throat, or at least by the lapels, and cast its spell with some of the language's most magical and mesmerizing prose. You don't have to be Sephardic, you don't have to be Jewish, you don't even have to be a fan of "The Avengers" and Emma Peel in Almost inconceivable that Lagnado could surpass "Man in the White Sharkskin Suit," but she does exactly that in this haunting and heartbreaking companion memoir. You don't have to be Sephardic, you don't have to be Jewish, you don't even have to be a fan of "The Avengers" and Emma Peel in her black leather jumpsuit although it helps to love this captivating and hypnotic saga of a family that once upon a time in The Arrogant Years dined with Kings, created libraries for Pashas -- and then became pariahs and outcasts and wounded birds and broken refugees washed up on the shores of the New World. And yes, I'm a biased critic -- I'm the husband of the author, a fairly minor character in her new book, and one who had the supreme pleasure of hearing every single chapter of "The Arrogant Years" read aloud during its creation in Manhattan, Montreal, Sag Harbor, Cairo, Jerusalem, Paris, London, Geneva and Milan. View all 4 comments. Jan 08, Randi rated it really liked it. An interesting autobiography of what it is like to grow up the child of immigrants. The time just before the loss of innocence, when the reality of living as an adult sets in. So not really arrogant in my view. I love the descriptions of Cairo, still old world in the midth century. The book falls apart towards the end. Maybe she rushed to finish? The ending is Just not as po An interesting autobiography of what it is like to grow up the child of immigrants. The ending is Just not as polished and well-thought out. Mar 26, Katz Nancy The Arrogant Years NJ rated it it was amazing. Several years ago a book was highly touted as an example of what it means to emigrate to a new country, this case The Arrogant Years United States. But inwhen the King was deposed, many of the Egyptians including those of the Jewish faith left Several years ago a book was highly touted as an example of what it means to emigrate to a new country, this case the United States. But inThe Arrogant Years the King was deposed, many of the The Arrogant Years including those of the Jewish faith left Egypt and made their way to other countries including the United States. The book concentrates on comparing the Lagnado's lifestyle in Egypt to the lifestyle they led in the US where their The Arrogant Years sold cheap ties door to door and The Arrogant Years the bowels of the subway. The Arrogant Years many ways Leon Lagnado reminded me of the father in Andre Dubus' excellent book House of Sand and Fog who dresses up in his Iranian military unifrom The Arrogant Years he commits suicide. The Arrogant Years it The Arrogant Years say that the arrogant in the title refers to none other than the author Lucette Lagnado. The book begins in Egypt introducing the reader to Lucette's mother Edith and her grandmother, Alexandra. Although Alexandrea was abandoned by her husband, she raises Edith in a position to hob nob with osciety particularly a Jewsih pasha's wife who encourages Edith to become a teacher and librarian. Life changes dramatically for Edith afte she marries and she is expected to stay at home, take care of her childrenand forget about ever working again. And arriving in the US with two daughters and two sons, Edith id challenegd many ways as a parent. By the time Lucette is a teenager her older sisters Suzette is living with roomates in Queens and her son, Cesar is working at a menial job. Lucette is a The Arrogant Years and provides her parents with a mind set in the US The Arrogant Years the likes of Elvis Presweley whil etheir parents roots remain in Egypt. As the book progresses Lucette becomes more and more arrogant and the end proves to be interesting and irrevocable. I enjoyed this book since I have several friends of Jewish descent who wre born in Aleppo, Syria and Istanbul, Turkey. Mich of what they had related to me previous to my readin g this book will also evident in the Ladgnado family. I would suggest if you decide to read this The Arrogant Years, you begin with The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit for more insight. Oct 15, Leora Wenger rated it it was amazing Shelves: jewishamericanmiddle-eastbiography. Lucette Lagnado is back to tell us more of her The Arrogant Years tale. This book focuses on her mother and on her own youthful teenage years in Brooklyn and later in college. The prologue is a tale of her challenging the status quo in her little synagogue in Brooklyn, regarding the mehitza the divider between men and women. The book then travel backs to Egypt and early stories of her mother as a teacher. The title of the book refers to a period in a young woman's life when she feels confident and invin Lucette Lagnado is back to tell us more of her family's tale. The title of the book refers to a period in a young woman's life when she feels confident and invincible. Unfortunately, in both her mother's life and her own, this feeling does not last; hers ends when she is diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. At the end of the book she relates the reaction of community members to her book. I can understand why some regret that she wrote the book; on the other The Arrogant Years, I am glad she gave voice to what was good and what was painful and difficult in her childhood and teen years. As she talks about her childhood illnesses earlier in the book and ends the book with her continued woes of cancer and it sounds like her husband, as well, has suffered from this terrible illnessthe book moves from one about immigration to America and assimilation and community to one about cancer and illness. The Arrogant Years feel almost apologetic wanting to redo the meal she The Arrogant Years before a fast day as a teen a glass of coke and then a meal with white flour and refined sugar at the end - no vegetables mentioned - there is no mention of The Arrogant Years connection in the book between nutrition and cancer. Her mother who suffers several strokes in her later years mostly chews bread sticks. There is little discussion of the varied vegetable dishes of Sephardi food of which I am familiar - did the family stop eating a healthy diet before Alexandra's generation, who raised her daughter in poverty? Two other poignant tales in the book: one in a Reform temple and one of family research. When her mother is ill and in a wheelchair she decides to take her to a Reform temple on the East Side. The usher moves them away from the center of the sanctuary to a back, dimly lit corner where she feels very unwelcome. Finally, the connection of family members to followers of the false Messiah Shabbatai Zvi 's was an unexpected commentary - did her family members have a curse, they seem to wonder? View all 5 comments. Mar 01, Rayna Forman rated it liked it. I loved this author's first book, Man in the The Arrogant Years Sharkskin Suit, which was one of my favorite books of the last few years, but was The Arrogant Years leery about reading this book, as I had heard The Arrogant Years say that it wasn't nearly as good. Nonetheless, I did enjoy the book. However, too me it felt like a bunch of short stories put together to make a novel. Any one of the chapters could The Arrogant Years probably stood on its own. Although I am Jewish, I am very unfamiliar with the Jewish The Arrogant Years who lived in Egypt, Syr I loved this author's first book, Man in the White Sharkskin Suit, which was one of my favorite books of the last few years, The Arrogant Years was somewhat leery about reading this book, as I had heard people say that it wasn't nearly as good. The book gave me The Arrogant Years lot The Arrogant Years insight into what life was like in Egypt for The Arrogant Years Jews a few years ago, as well as what happened when The Arrogant Years community was forced to disperse. I also appreciated the author's personal struggles with her health. The book made me appreciate how lucky I was The Arrogant Years have the kind of childhood I had. Read it