Ali Karim interviewed Dan Fesperman, author of the acclaimed
The Prisoner of Guantánamo and the forthcoming
The Amatuer Spy and other books, for
The Rap Sheet.
One exchange from the interview:
AK: I recall when we last spoke that you had visited Guantánamo Bay, which gave your last book [The Prisoner of Guantánamo] such an authentic feel. Did you visit Jordan on behalf of The Amateur Spy?
DF: I did, and in fact I have over the years spent a lot of time in Jordan, visiting six or seven times before. And so, in preparation for The Amateur Spy, I went back to Jordan to get myself back up-to-date, in terms of the state of play in politics [and] social aspects. Jordan’s an interesting place, in that it’s a very progressive monarchy which has a parliament that doesn’t have any real power, but it is allowed to vent the opinions of the street. A lot of people consider the regime benign, [and think] that you can say anything you want, but it’s not quite like that. [Yet] it’s very unlike Syria and Saudi Arabia and places that are more repressive toward their people.
Read
the full interview.
--Marshal Zeringue
Ali Karim interviewed Dan Fesperman, author of the acclaimed The Prisoner of Guantánamo and the forthcoming The Amatuer Spy and other books, for The Rap Sheet.