When his enemies were busy vilifying him and spreading lies about him, my dear comrade and friend, Joseph Massad was working on this book. Go buy it NOW. This may be the final word on the subject of sexuality in the Middle East (although he does not have a chapter on shoes in Arab culture). You can't teach on gender and sexuality in the Middle East without this book. Now, I can tell readers to skip chapter 3 in which the author subjects me (ME, the all-knowing one), to "hard-hitting criticisms" as he said in the acknowledgment, but this is a brilliant chapter that can't be ignored even if you disagree with the author. But don't worry: for that chapter, I will now always throw sharp metal objects at Joseph whenever I see him--as a punishment (don't worry: throwing sharp metal objects (not shoes) at somebody is not considered offensive in Arab culture.)