Jason Collins has narrated 3 audiobooks on Listento.it by 3 authors, with an average listener rating of 5★ across 1 ratings. The most-rated is Children of Jihad.
Children of Jihad
Summary
Classrooms were never sufficient for Jared Cohen; he wanted to learn about global affairs by witnessing them firsthand. While studying on a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford, he took a crash course in Arabic, read voraciously on the history and culture of the Middle East, and in 2004 he embarked on the first of a series of incredible journeys to the Middle East. In an effort to try to understand the spread of radical Islamist violence, he focused his research on Muslim youth. The result is Children of Jihad, a portrait of paradox that probes much deeper than any journalist or pundit ever could. Written with candor and featuring dozens of eye-opening anecdotes, Cohen's account begins in Lebanon, where he interviews Hezbollah members at, of all places, a McDonald's. In Iran, he defies government threats and sneaks into underground parties, where bootleg liquor, Western music, and the Internet are all easy to access. His risky itinerary also takes him to a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, borderlands in Syria, the insurgency hotbed of Mosul, and other frontline locales. At each turn, he observes a culture at an uncanny crossroads: Bedouin shepherds with satellite dishes to provide Western TV shows, young women wearing garish makeup despite religious mandates, teenagers sending secret text messages and arranging illicit trysts. Gripping and daring, Children of Jihad shows us the future through the eyes of those who are shaping it.
©2007 Jared Cohen (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.
1001 Nights in Iraq
Summary
Shant Kendarian's visit to Baghdad in 1980 at age 17 was supposed to be short, just long enough to make peace with his estranged father before returning home to the United States. But Saddam Hussein invaded Iran and sealed off Iraq's borders to every man of military age - including Kendarian. Suddenly forced onto the front lines, he saw his two-week visit turn into a 10-year nightmare. Kendarian miraculously survived the Iran-Iraq War and Desert Storm, the minefields, sinking boats, fires, starvation, heavy interrogation, and solitary confinement. What broke him in the end was his love affair with a female soldier named Monica. Yet throughout his ordeal, he never lost his respect for people, his faith in God, or his sense of humor. His story is a unique look into a country and a culture only hinted at in the headlines.
©2007 Shant Kenderian (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.
The Sirens of Baghdad
Summary
A student at the University of Baghdad must return to his small village home when the Americans invade Iraq. There, he witnesses American soldiers kill the benign village idiot, bomb a wedding, and finally, terrorize his family in his own home. Consumed by the desire for vengeance, the youth leaves for the city, where he is taken in by a radical group. After proving his mettle in several attacks, he is entrusted with a super-secret mission, which he struggles to reconcile with his moral principles. A masterful look at the effects of violence on ordinary people, The Sirens of Baghdad explores the depths of human nature as it confronts the most horrific circumstances.
©2007 John Cullen (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.