A Sliver of Light: Three Americans Imprisoned in Iran
About this audiobook
Three young Americans captured by Iranian forces and held in captivity for two years tell their story.
In summer 2009 Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal, and Sarah Shourd were hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan when they unknowingly crossed into Iran and were captured by a border patrol. Accused of espionage, the three Americans ultimately found themselves in Tehran's infamous Evin Prison, where they discovered that pooling their strength of will and relying on each other were the only ways they could survive.
In this poignant memoir, "the hikers" finally tell their side of the story. They recount the deception that lured them into Iran in the first place and describe the psychological torment of interrogation and solitary confinement. We follow them as they make surprising alliances with their fellow prisoners and even some of their captors, while their own bonds with each other are tested and deepened. Told through a bold and innovative interweaving of the authors' three voices, here is a rare glimpse inside Iran and a timeless portrayal of hardship and hope.
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About the author
Shane Bauer won the New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism for his book American Prison. He is a senior reporter for Mother Jones and a recipient of the National Magazine Award for Best Reporting. His writing has appeared in the Nation, Salon, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and the Christian Science Monitor. He has received the Hillman Prize for Magazine Journalism, the John Jay Award for Criminal Justice Reporting, and the Media for a Just Society Award. He is the co-author of a memoir, A Sliver of Light, which details his time spent as a prisoner in Iran.
Josh Fattal, a graduate of Berkeley’s program in environmental economics and policy, is an activist and organizer focused on sustainable development. He has spoken at universities, human rights conferences, and private events to describe the experience of imprisonment in Iran.
Sarah Shourd is a writer, educator, and contributing editor at Solitary Watch currently based in Oakland, California. Sarah has done international human rights work with the Zapatista indigenous movement in Chiapas, Mexico; organized with women’s groups against unsolved murders of sweatshop workers in Juarez, Mexico; and taught for the Iraqi Student Project while living in Damascus, Syria. After her wrongful imprisonment in Iran, Sarah has become an advocate for prisoners’ rights, focusing her writing, speaking, and theater projects on the widespread use of prolonged solitary confinement in US prisons and jails. She has written for the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, CNN, and Newsweek/Daily Beast, and contributes a blog to Huffington Post.
Michael Goldstrom is a Juilliard-trained actor and comedian. He has appeared on Comedy Central, HBO, A&E, NBC, and ABC, as well as on and off Broadway. His audiobook narrations have earned several Earphones Awards.
Julia Whelan is a screenwriter, lifelong actor, and award-winning audiobook narrator. She graduated with a degree in English and creative writing from Middlebury College and Oxford University. While she was in England, her flirtation with tea blossomed into a full-blown love affair, culminating in her eventual certification as a tea master.
Tristan Morris is an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator who originally hails from Seattle, Washington. He currently lives in New York City with his wife and daughter. He studied theater and philosophy at Pacific Lutheran University and proceeded to earn his MFA in acting from the New School for Drama in Manhattan. Tristan is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors' Equity.
