There is an increasing trend when reviewing fiction to consider the
biography of the writer, as well as the work in question. It should be
the case that the reader completes the text rather than the writer (or
their life) being drawn upon to explain it. But when writing about a
conflict as contentious as the Israel-Palestine one, it becomes more
likely that the ethnicity, political and religious affiliations of the
writer are considered relevant.
Michelle Cohen Corasanti is a Jewish American and has written a book
that many may consider to be inappropriate for her to write, for her
book’s central character, Ichmad [sic], is a Palestinian, and not just
any Palestinian, but a boy genius whose intelligence far outstrips
almost all of the other characters in this book: Israeli, Jewish or
otherwise.
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