"Rich and complex . . . [A] beautifully observant book." -Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times Book Review
"A dizzying tour de force . . . From Life Itself leaves the reader with a sense of wonder." -Elif Batuman, author of Either/Or and The Idiot
One neighborhood in Istanbul: a window on a city, country, region, and world in a state of upheaval.
Karagümrük, an Istanbul neighborhood once dominated by Ottoman-era homes, is now known for petty thieves, cheap apartment blocks, and an influx of Syrian refugees. It's here that Suzy Hansen went looking for the truth behind the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's authoritarian turn, a catastrophic regional war, and an accelerating geopolitical crisis. She asks: Was Turkey a harbinger of what would soon arise in other countries, the resurgence of authoritarianism? Or do the lives in this neighborhood, and the transformations of Erdoğan's Turkey, reveal a more complex story?
During a decade spent reporting from Karagümrük, Hansen discovered the neighborhood's secrets and got to know some of its people: Ismail, the longtime muhtar, or neighborhood councilman; Huseyin, a loyalist in Erdoğan's Islamic nationalist AK Party; and Ebru, a real estate agent and mother with ambitions to unseat Ismail. Through these local perspectives, Hansen connects the events unfolding in Karagümrük to the forces roiling Turkey, the Middle East, and the world, capturing the sweep of the last ten years in microcosm.
From the author of the acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist Notes on a Foreign Country, From Life Itself is a story for a world out of joint. An absorbing account of one neighborhood in Istanbul that has seen profound change, it offers lessons for all of us who feel the pressure of the disorienting global forces remaking our lives. Suzy Hansen lived in Istanbul for more than a decade, where she was a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and many other publications. Her first book, Notes on a Foreign Country, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction and the winner of the Overseas Press Club of America's Cornelius Ryan Award. She has taught writing at Princeton University, New York University, and Bard College.
"Hansen elegantly maps out the constellation of forces that brought Turkey to [an] unprecedented moment . . . Rich and complex . . . As [Hansen] shows in this beautifully observant book, the first steps to resisting the easy seductions of cynicism are to look, listen and try to understand." -Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times Book Review
"Everybody needs to buy [this book] . . . [Full of] great writing, amazing personalities." -Ben Rhodes, Pod Save the World
"From Life Itself is a dizzying tour de force: the simultaneously cosmic and microscopic record of a transformative decade in Istanbul, Turkey, and the world. Current events and political analyses are deftly interwoven with, and sometimes subverted by, firsthand accounts of life as it is actually lived. By turns gutting and exhilarating, filled with vitality and humanity, Hansen's writing defies cynicism, thwarts easy generalizations, and leaves the reader with a sense of wonder."
-Elif Batuman, author of Either/Or and The Idiot
"Hansen traces a story that illuminates a politics of mass migration and nationalist backlash that has resonances far beyond Turkey . . . Ambitious . . . Lovingly written and well observed."
-Sami Kent, The Guardian
"Hansen writes fluently and colorfully and has a sharp eye for detail . . . The narrative really soars [. . .] when the author wanders the streets of Karagumruk and speaks to those who live there. The success of microhistories such as this hinges on its characters, and Hansen provides a colorful cast." -Peter Conradi, The Times (London)
"Fascinating . . . An urgent cautionary tale for American readers . . . Hansen's deep-rooted reporting has undeniable gravitas . . . A rich portrait of a
