A Sliver of Light: Three Americans Imprisoned in Iran
Shane Bauer, Joshua Fattal
Language: English
Pages: 352
ISBN: 0544483979
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
“A Sliver of Light weaves a spellbinding tale of hard-won survival at the intersection of courage and love — the love of friends struggling to support one another in wretched circumstances, the unyielding bedrock of mothers' love for their long-lost children, and the fiercely tested love of three people for the family of humankind. It is a triumph of writing born of a triumph of being.” — Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree and The Noonday Demon
In summer 2009, Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal, and Sarah Shourd were hiking in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan when they unknowingly crossed into Iran and were captured by a border patrol. Wrongly accused of espionage, the three Americans ultimately found themselves in Tehran’s infamous Evin Prison, where activists and protesters from the Green Movement were still being confined and tortured. Cut off from the world and trapped in a legal black hole, Bauer, Fattal, and Shourd discovered that pooling their strength of will and relying on one another was the only way they could survive.
In A Sliver of Light, the three finally tell their side of the story. They offer a rare glimpse inside Iran at a time when understanding this fractured state has never been more important. But beyond that, this memoir is a profoundly humane account of defiance, hope, and the elemental power of friendship.
“Riveting and necessary and illuminating in countless unexpected ways. The hikers have pulled off the almost impossible task of making from their hellish experience something of beauty and grace.” — Dave Eggers
“A Sliver of Light is the record of a human rights triumph, a moving memoir by three individuals who found the strength to survive.” — San Jose Mercury News
things,” Dumb Guy says. “Make sure everything is there and sign this paper. Quickly! The Swiss have been waiting for a very long time.” Josh and I dig through our bags. I search for my camera and money. It’s all there. In fact, there’s much more here than we came with. There are bags full of the dates—now rotting—that Salem brought us over the months, brand-new clothes we never received, razors, shaving cream, shampoo, and a dozen little battery-powered fans, surely sent by Josh’s mom. Suddenly,
our eyes meet. His eyes never had that quality before. He is undaunted by his own fear. This moment, like so many moments, feels surreal to me. At first, I’m watching it happen, like my eyes are trying to catch up to what my mind is telling me. Then, when Shane reaches out his hand to touch my face, it is suddenly happening to me and only me. Shane’s breath is delicious. I look at his sweet face, his gentle eyes, and his sensuous, cherry red lips. My finger traces his lovely neck, strong
part of me feels like I’m turning my back on Sarah. I remember when the Israelis bombarded Gaza at the end of 2008, while Sarah and I were living in Damascus. Suddenly, pictures of bloody, dead children popped up in bus stations around the city and all of the New Year celebrations in Damascus were canceled, from major concerts to small house parties. When I asked a Palestinian friend what he was doing for the holiday, he said, “How can we celebrate when people are being killed?” I couldn’t
vendor probably didn’t expect we’d walk for hours. A: We never meant to come to Iran. We had no mission in Iran. We had no mission at all. We were tourists in Iraqi Kurdistan. Our taxi driver and hotel manager recommended we go there. The driver’s number is in my phone. You can find the hotel. Call them. They’ll tell you. I hand the paper back over my left shoulder. He reads it aloud in Farsi. The tongues of several mouths tut loudly in disapproval. He hands me another sheet of paper. Q: What
“What is this?” he asks, looking at me for the first time. “You told the news two days ago that you wanted evidence that Josh and Shane are not spies. Well, here it is. The three of us are very critical of our government’s foreign policy. We are all against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I even helped organize a protest against bombing Iran when I was in my twenties. Will you tell this to the judiciary?” He takes the folder and begins to rustle through it in silence. “Do you think we are