This collection offers up a mix of previously published and new works, creating a literary road map to Arab American literature today. The nineteen authors represented are of Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, Egyptian, and Libyan descent, some with established reputations, others new young writers. They tell tales about Muslims and Christians, recent immigrants and fully assimilated Americans, teenagers and grandmothers, guerillas and peaceniks, professors, housewives, grocers, bookies, those who long for their homeland, and those who refuse to speak Arabic. By turns sassy or lyrical, biting or humorous, but always moving, these stories are good reading and an important contribution to the diverse body of American literature.