(from Amazon)
"Waris Dirie, whose name means "desert flower", was born in Somalia of nomadic parents. She underwent extreme female circumcision at the age of five, and when she was 13 her father sold her into marriage with a 60-year-old for five camels, at which time she ran away. She was discovered by a fashion photographer in the United States whilst working as a janitor at McDonald's, and became a model who has been used to promote Revlon skin-care products. She also speaks on women's rights in Africa and travels the world to give lectures on behalf of the UN. This is her autobiography."

A remarkable book, it makes you think about the situation in Africa, but also in Europe. This is her first book.

I "caught" this book at my first ever Meetup in Hamburg last night. Looking forward to reading it.

I highly recommend this book. I rather say that I recommend it than that I enjoyed it as Waris has overcome some enormous obstacles in her life.

I believe that she has written a second book, so I will be keeping an eye out for that.

Beim heutigen Kita-Grillen mitgenommen. Habe es kürzlich mal auf deutsch angelesen und konnte es schon da kaum aus der Hand legen...

I took it with me after today's meetup.

Den ersten Teil des Buches las ich – wie erwähnt – bereits in der deutschen Übersetzung, den zweiten Teil nun im englischen Original... mein Fazit: Absolut beeindruckend, wie diese Frau ihr Leben in die Hand genommen und alle für uns vorstellbaren und unvorstellbaren Hürden gemeistert hat. Mich beeindruckt besonders ihre "nomadische" Fähigkeit zur Adaption und natürlich das Engagement im Kampf gegen die Beschneidung von Mädchen. Wie schwer muß es gewesen sein, sich der Öffentlichkeit als Opfer dieser Praxis zu präsentieren.


Absolutely remarkable! I'm deeply impressed, especially by her "nomadic" ability to constantly adapt to all the different conditions she experience(s/d) and, of course, her dedication to fight against FGM. How difficult must it have been, especially for her, to present herself as a victim – not only to your closest friends, but to the public, worldwide.

I, too, highly recommend this book and will thus take it to the next meetup. It's too important to be released (and possibly be lost) into the wild.

Das Buch kommt mit zum morgigen MeetUp nach Lübeck!

The book now travels on to the next meetup: tomorrow at Lübeck!

Picked up at the Lübeck meetup today. Have been thinking about reading it for a long time. Now that it almost "fell into my lap" I finally will...

3.4.08 Will take it on my Australian holiday and leave it somewhere between Perth and Darwin.