A very boring story about a seemingly very vengeful woman. We all make mistakes in life, and try to learn from it. But Betty Mahmoody is making money out of it but making up a story in which potrayes herself as the victim. I watched this woman complaining on the Dr. Phil show recently, still sobbing and feeling sorry for herself and at the same time promoting her book and trying to squeeze the last couple of bucks out of her story.
Thanks to the Finish documentary `Without my daughter' which shows us what really happened we now know that this book is just one big lie.
Maybe they don't show you these documentaries in the US, I'm sure your government would like you to believe that all women are suppressed in countries like Iran.
Do not buy this book, don't buy the DVD. Dishonesty should not be rewarded.

Herman, Europe

There is no doubt in my mind that the experience Mrs. Mahmoody has had, if one can describe that as an ''experience'' has been rather an unpleasant one. As others have pointed it it is also surprising that she has opted to travel to Iran in one of its most shacky moments, during the middle of the war between Iraq-Iran. Also, it seems that Mrs. Mahmoody was not completely out of guard to this, as she herself describes in the book that the trip was made at a moment before which there had been many struggles between her and Mr. Mahmoody, hence it seems their relation was not completely right even before the trip, well... false promises and hopes she accepts to travel to Iran to please her husband.

The experiences she describes must have been very difficult, she is beaten, treated like nothing, nobody helps her or listens to her, as it seems every body is scared and tries to stay away. I completely must disagree with the way she pictures Iran and the society, about the hygiene issue particularly how she describes the food and the people in the family as being completely unclean, yes it's possible that she was not so lucky and the people she had to live with were not clean, but this can not be fitted to the society entirely, neither can it be fitted to any other society, it just seems these particular people seemed rather uncareful in this matter, though when one reads the book with no previous Eastern experience one might think that ''this is how life is over there'' I could not disagree more.

Also, she describes how ''horrible'' the life is in Iran, due to its restrictions and so on. I think this is rather completely another story, and do not take for granted what she says, I have met Iranian people and have had Iranian friends and I think it's better to read further on this matter. The book is nice in my opinion, I admire the courage of Mrs. Mahmoody in her struggle to protect her child, nevertheless I do believe that the descriptions of many things in this book have been emotionally affected by her terrible experience, which may be in a way understandable, had things gone right for her and her husband perhaps she would not have described life as being ''so terrible'' in Iran, I am not sure but a pleasant read in any case.

When I was in high school, a friend of mine recommended "Not Without My Daughter." Twenty years later, I finally got around to reading it. I wish that friend were still in my life to discuss the book with. I recall her saying she stayed up all night, unable to put the book down, and I had much the same reaction. It is a riveting tale of domestic abuse and a harrowing escape, occuring in Tehran in 1984. Yes, there were moments that made me squirm because Betty Mahmoody seemed like a spoiled American making sweeping generalizations about a culture she had little time to experience, but the story overall is a compelling one.

I recommend the book highly, with reservations. I also read "Persepolis" recently and that provided a much needed counterpoint to Mahmoody's biases. It is essential to consider more than one person's experiences. Not everyone in Iran is like the family she married into. That said, this is a compelling story and one worth knowing about.

Take all the figures in this painting(The Death of Sardanapalus, 1827 Fine Art Stretched Canvas Poster Print by Eugene Delacroix, 22x17) and dress them up as modern Iranians.

You would get this book.

Great story but I am going to recommend Detained Differencesby J. Robert Rowe in conjunction with this novel

THIS BOOK WAS FANTASTIC. I COULDN'T READ IT FAST ENOUGH. HOW LUCKEY WE ARE TO LIVE IN A FREE COUNTRY. READ THIS BOOK!!

Its a fascinating story but like one reader said it raised a lot of questions. How was a virtual prisoner able to communicate with people in the market. The issue of Trish and Suzanne who wanted her to escape with them if she was that desperate why did she not go with them, I know the Embassy warned her about going with them but they did warn her about escaping in general towards the end. The issue of her passport was also rightly raised by a reviewer. She mentions mohsehn wanted that along with her money,necklace and colouring book. But what smuggler would have wanted to draw attention to himself by carrying her passport on his person.A gold necklace would also draw a lot of attention and word would get around that an American was there. The idea of a grown man taking a colouring book is ridiculous and laughable. She mentions that her passport was requested by Mohsehn who later asked her to give it to the man in the truck and he later gave it back to her. Yet we hear that when leaving for Van a package was thrown at her with her Passport and money. In the meantime who took the passport? When crossing the border she mentions she looked up and could see the pasar/ border guards on top of the mountain if she could see them they could see her. She also mentions that she could hear voices ahead in arguement. Smugglers? Or Border Guards or both? One would have thought that either the first or last would have put the pasdar on their guard and made them more wary. Yet she tells us that certain patches of Ice were too risky to negotiate.'noise was our enemy any sound was like a rifle to patrolling pasdar'

Lastly where is the documentation from the American embassy in Ankara, copy of her iranian passport. Sometimes the story is overdone

Although some problems may have existed between Betty and her husband, and domestic abuse happens everywhere in the world, she clearly attempts to dehumanize the Iranians by writing lies about their customs and culture, much like the Persians that look like ugly monsters in the recent movie 300. Good and not so good people exist everywhere. I have travelled extensively around the globe and I know that both Iranians and Americans are among the nicest people that I have ever met. Iranian people and culture have a built in tendency to defend the "underdog", the oppressed, and the lonely. After you read this book, please don't let this be your only reading and pespective of Iran. By the way, Iranians do take showers and baths several times a week. In fact when the Westerners of 16th and 17th century used to take one annual bath a year and no house had a regular bathroom (the Versaille palace has no bathroom they used the gardens!), Iranians took weekly baths and most homes had bathrooms.

Now that the fifteen British mariners have been released from Iranian captivity and repatriated, if you're interested in forming an impression of what it's like to live among typical Persians, whose habits of personal hygiene may surprise you, revisit this book while copies remain available.

Now that the fifteen British mariners have been released from Iranian captivity and repatriated, if you're interested in forming an impression of what it's like to live among typical Persians, whose habits of personal hygiene may surprise you, revisit this book while copies remain available.

If I could have given this book a "0", I would. I have spent a considerable amount of time in Iran, as an American woman and as a mother accompanied by my children. I have never experienced anything but warmth, hospitality, and respect from any Iranians I encountered while living there. Although, I was not married to an Iranian man, bad, abusive marriages happen anywhere. Why is a bad marriage in Iran--if this was indeed the case--considered so "newsworthy?" It is troubling that one woman's overly-dramatized, traumatic account is seen in the US as the prototype for all of Iranian culture. For example, I have eaten in the homes of many Iranians, of all social classes, in cities and in villages, and never once did I encounter bugs in the food. Doesn't anyone find it suspicious that the ghost writer, William Hoffer, also was the author of "Midnight Express"--a book about an American in a Turkish prison? What is his agenda? What is Ms. Mahmoody's agenda? Why is this book so popular in the US? Could it be that we want to read/see things that confirm our stereotypes of the Middle East and Islamic cultures as "evil." The reader should try to disengage him/herself from Mahmoudy's traumatic story and try to read between the lines. Think critically, for crying out loud, about how books such as these demonize another culture, so that we can have the opportunity to see another people as less than human, and thereby feel no remorse when they're under attack. This is one of the worst--and most damaging--pieces of propaganda I've ever seen. Shame on Sally Field for taking part in the film!

Even the cover is misleading: Iranian women do not cover their faces with their veils like this. This is a custom found more in Saudi Arabia.

When I chose to read "Not Without My Daughter" for my second outside reading novel, I had been told it was "good" by several people. However, as an avid reader, I've learned that a good book in the eyes of one person may be awful for another. I picked it up with an open mind, but after only a few pages, I couldn't put it down. With an exciting and twisting story, and descriptive language that shows just how real Betty's story is, my expectations were blown clear out of the water.
One of the aspects of this novel that kept me enthralled is its amazing and painful descriptions of Betty and Mahtob's life in Iran. Although Moody's relatives are part of a "wealthy" Iranian family, their food is often infested with bugs, and they have no sense of personal hygiene. Betty's emotions are vividly portrayed as she watches almost all of her escape plans fall through and sees her life disintegrate around her. Through the authors' words, Betty and Mahtob's struggle to maintain hope and sanity is shown in a realistic manner which most writers cannot fully achieve.
The only part of this book I didn't adore was the many flashbacks to life in America. Though some of them were interesting, overall they simply interrupted the flow of the story, and were sometimes confusing. For example, there is one flashback towards the end of the novel that takes the reader all the way back to four years before Betty, Moody and Mahtob leave for Iran. It is long, a bit pointless, and disrupts the smooth sequence of the words.
Betty Mahmoody and William Hoffer together make an amazing writing team. Their language has the ability to paint astounding pictures of Betty's life in Iran, infusing information about Iranian culture in with the telling of everyday life. Through the pen of the two authors, this compelling story is relived for all readers to see, filled with the suspense that can only come with a well-told true story.
Something that truly amazed me about Betty Mahmoody was her perserverence. If I had to go through the same terrible ordeal as she, I'm not sure I would be able to keep my wits about me to extent that Betty does, if at all. The story gave me a greater appreciation for the freedoms I enjoy everyday: wearing clothes that I choose, being independent, even eating fresh and healthy foods. Betty's will for liberation is truly inspiring, and I believe it shall inspire me to fight my rights and the rights of others in the future.