The Republic of Imagination

We are all citizens of Azar Nafisi’s The Republic of Imagination. Without imagination there are no dreams, without dreams there is no art, and without art there is nothing. Her words are essential.

Marjane Satrapi

A lovely book: sharp in observation and wholly readable.

Larry McMurtry

Resonant and deeply affecting . . . an eloquent brief on the transformative powers of fiction.

New York Times

Playful, sombre and tender, Nafisi's character-vignettes persuade us that reading nourishes empathy and friendship, opening the forbidden path through the green gate.

Independent

A moving and convincing case for the necessity of literature

Big Issue in the North

An arresting read … striking and utterly persuasive

Times Higher Education

Nafisi argues passionately

New Statesman

The book is a triumph … Most of all, I admire Nafisi’s bravery in challenging the commercialisation of America’s cultural and educational life … Nafisi’s sustained critique of trends in the American higher education system has a lot to say to UK readers and academics as well. Overall, the project is clever and poignant and steers clear of preachiness or schmaltz. But perhaps more impressive is the fact that although this is ostensibly a book about reading, Nafisi covers so many different aspects of life: morality, loneliness, coffee shops, technology, suicide, race, gender. In the end, the republic of imagination is not ‘about’ anything: what it comes down to is a single question. How should we live – as a society and as individuals?

New Welsh Review