"The only saving I need is from those who are trying very hard to be saved." Sam Wazan
“Author Sam Wazan is a uniquely qualified tour guide.His experiences...serve as the foundation for his provocative and powerful new novel, The Last Moderate Muslim.” Charlotte View.
This is the riveting story of young Ziad, a young man forced to grow up in the middle of Lebanon’s civil war and the sole survivor of a terrible massacre. Ziad vows revenge against the perpetrators but when a vigilante orders him to shoot, he cannot. His younger brother pulls the trigger instead and becomes a hero, rising through the ranks of the local militias while exploiting Ziad’s change of heart. Ziad falls in love with Sophia, a Westernized college student. But the self-appointed sharia enforcers drag him and his girlfriend from his car and chop off their hair. As West Beirut devolves into hell, Sophia’s family emigrates to America. Ziad vows to follow his girlfriend, but will the American gatekeepers admit him, or is he doomed to a life of chronic despair?
The Last Moderate Muslim is a gripping and inspiring story about how to assert yourself and break through centuries of familial, religious, and cultural constructs. It’s about finding a positive way forward.
"More than educational, your book is a primer of human awareness that circulates in the midst of the chaos of violence. Thank you for sharing a much bigger and more profound insight with the rest of us.”-- Bishop William Swing, Episcopal Bishop of California 1980 - 2006 & President and Founder of United Religions Initiative.
"An apt comparison to The Kite Runner . ... a page burner of a story." Robert R. Baumgarte, Former Professor of Psychology at Winthrop University.
“Author Sam Wazan is a uniquely qualified tour guide.His experiences...serve as the foundation for his provocative and powerful new novel, The Last Moderate Muslim.” Charlotte View.
This is the riveting story of young Ziad, a young man forced to grow up in the middle of Lebanon’s civil war and the sole survivor of a terrible massacre. Ziad vows revenge against the perpetrators but when a vigilante orders him to shoot, he cannot. His younger brother pulls the trigger instead and becomes a hero, rising through the ranks of the local militias while exploiting Ziad’s change of heart. Ziad falls in love with Sophia, a Westernized college student. But the self-appointed sharia enforcers drag him and his girlfriend from his car and chop off their hair. As West Beirut devolves into hell, Sophia’s family emigrates to America. Ziad vows to follow his girlfriend, but will the American gatekeepers admit him, or is he doomed to a life of chronic despair?
The Last Moderate Muslim is a gripping and inspiring story about how to assert yourself and break through centuries of familial, religious, and cultural constructs. It’s about finding a positive way forward.