The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay

An American Family in Iran

By: Hooman Majd

Narrated by: Michael Kramer

It was an annus horribilis for Iran's Supreme Leader. The Green Movement had been crushed, but the regime was on edge, anxious lest democratic protests resurge. International sanctions were dragging down the economy while talk of war with the West grew. Hooman Majd was there for all of it. A new father at age fifty, he decided to take his blonde, blue-eyed Midwestern yoga instructor wife Karri and his adorable, only-eats-organic infant son Khash from their hip Brooklyn neighborhood to spend a year in the land of his birth. It was to be a year of discovery for Majd, too, who had only lived in Iran as a child.

The audiobook opens ominously as Majd is stopped at the airport by intelligence officers who show him a four-inch thick security file about his books and journalism and warn him not to write about Iran during his stay. Majd brushes it off - but doesn't tell Karri - and the family soon settles in to the rituals of middle class life in Tehran: Finding an apartment (which requires many thousands of dollars, all of which, bafflingly, is returned to you when you leave), a secure internet connection (one that persuades the local censors you are in New York) and a bootlegger (self-explanatory). Karri masters the head scarf, but not before being stopped for mal-veiling, twice. They endure fasting at Ramadan and keep up with Khash in a country weirdly obsessed with children.

All the while, Majd fields calls from security officers and he and Karri eye the headlines - the arrest of an American "spy," the British embassy riots, the Arab Spring - and wonder if they are pushing their luck. The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay is a sparkling account of life under a quixotic authoritarian regime that offers rare and intimate insight into a country and its people, as well as a personal story of exile and a search for the meaning of home.

©2013 Hooman Majd (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

“Narrator Michael Kramer's many talents include his ability to portray a persona using only subtle accents and shadings of tone. Such skill is evident here from the opening lines as he convincingly delivers all the emotion and understated drama of author Majd's chronicle of a year spent in his native Iran with his American wife and their toddler son. Kramer perfectly hits every note--from wry amusement at the behavior of political leaders to exasperation at the living conditions and anger about what reformers have endured from the regime. Madj has written about Iran before, but listeners will find that this time it's personal. Kramer's conversational tone and pace add to the intimacy and immediacy of this timely audiobook.” (AudioFile)

“ The Ministry of Guidance reveals an Iran far more nuanced, sophisticated and affluent than most Western readers might imagine…Iranians, it turns out, have a lot more in common with Americans than we’ve been told the past 30-some years…. The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay completes a trilogy that illuminates the politics, society, and culture of modern Iran through the eyes of the decidedly hip, well-connected Majd. But it’s not just a book about Iran – it's a personal story that will speak to any readers who have ever been disassociated from home (whether by travel or migration), struggled to navigate a new culture (or return to a once familiar one), or attempted to come to terms with their own foreignness as they try to make a strange land a place they can call home.” ( Christian Science Monitor)

"No one takes you inside Iran like Hooman Majd, whose keen observations and rich writing tell the story of an illuminating, delightful, and at times, horrifying journey. You will relish this book like a good meal." (Ann Curry)

Love the education

I love this book, gives an unvarnished view of Iran and Persian culture. I say unvarnished, but really mean not filtered through our political differences. Not a super fan of the narrator, very flat. Although it may be the choice of the author.

Interesting book, not so great narrator

Where does The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's pretty good. There's probably not a whole lot in it that people don't already know but it's interesting just the same.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narrator sounds like he's reading off index cards.

Fascinating story. Would prefer author's voice.

Would you listen to The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay again? Why?

Yes. Engaging story, lots of detail.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The reader's voice conveys heavy sarcasm, and has me cringing as I listen. The author's own voice is much more pleasant; wish he had done the reading.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Tales of arrest and emprisonment are frightening, especially since I plan to visit Iran soon!