"The story Abodehman tells in The Belt is as deceptively simple as his young life. On the surface, his tale is a personal coming-of-age filled with all of the difficulties of growing up; the author's deft touch and perceptive hindsight also make it a study of the coexistence of old and new and a penetrating look at the religious, social, and intellectual forces at work inside the Arabian peninsula." "Abodehman was known, from a young age, as the poet of his village. Consequently, The Belt is a memoir told with a poet's touch, bringing to life all the sensuous detail of traditional Saudi Arabia and all the uneasy realities of the move into modernity. The book's diverse cast of characters and rural, mountainous setting challenge conventional perceptions of the Arabian peninsula; Ahmed's own story of adolescence and the struggle to become a man offers a rare and valuable humanistic look at one of the most misunderstood areas of the world."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved