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| photo: Jessica Fakes | |
Fadi Zaghmout is a Jordanian author and activist who writes bold, thought-provoking fiction and champions sexual freedoms and body rights. His novels include The Bride of Amman, the futuristic Heaven on Earth trilogy, and Laila. Zaghmout's work has been translated into English, French, and Italian. His latest novel, The Man of Middling Height (Syracuse University Press, August 15, 2025), translated from the Arabic by Wasan Abdelhaq, centers on a romance between a short dressmaker and her client who is of middle height and therefore shunned by society.
Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:
Short. Tall. What about in-between? This daring novel flips gender and identity debates into a world ruled by height. A must-read social commentary.
On your nightstand now:
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, and All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I have to say, the last one is my favorite. World War II has always fascinated me, and I'm deeply impressed by Anthony's masterful prose. I'm in love with his language--his words, his sentences, and the emotional depth of the story as a whole.
Favorite book when you were a child:
It's probably Animal Farm by George Orwell. We were assigned to read it in high school, and it's stayed with me ever since. Its layers of meaning and sharp political allegory left a lasting impression.
Your top five authors:
Ken Follett, Dan Brown, Alaa Al Aswany, Nawal El Saadawi, and Fil Inocencio Jr.
Book you've faked reading:
It would be a book written by someone I know--someone excited to share it with me and eager for my feedback. I give it a try, but I can't seem to make it to the end. So I fake it, carefully choosing my words to avoid hurting their feelings.
Book you're an evangelist for:
Testosterone Rex by Cordelia Fine is smart, witty, and deeply scientific. It shatters myths about testosterone and challenges outdated ideas about gender roles with solid research.
Book you've bought for the cover:
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro drew me in with its beautiful cover and moved me with its heartfelt story. I love Ishiguro's writing style and have a soft spot for future-set narratives. Klara herself is an endearing, lovable character who kept me turning the pages to the very end.
Book you hid from your parents:
I don't remember ever hiding books from my parents, but I do recall feeling shy about reading a section in a popular magazine where people asked questions about sex and sexuality.
Book that changed your life:
Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson. I read it when I was feeling stuck and unsatisfied at work. It taught me to be courageous, step out of my comfort zone, and keep searching for my "cheese."
Favorite line from a book:
"But death for most of us is not that way. Like my father's, it takes place quietly, in the knowledge that life has been worth living and that we have been loved. I'd like to die in a chair reading a book, but one thing I know is that I really don't want to be asleep. In case I miss what may just be life's most wonderful experience." --from The Seven Ages of Death by Richard Shepherd
Five books you'll never part with:
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley sparked my love for visionary literature. It fueled my fascination with imagining the future and inspired me to write my own sci-fi trilogy, Heaven on Earth.
1984 by George Orwell is one of my all-time favorite books. Growing up in a region ruled by authoritarian regimes, its themes hit close to home. Even today, it gives me chills--especially seeing how we're normalizing surveillance for children through in-home cameras.
The Passion of New Eve by Angela Carter is a radical feminist masterpiece that directly inspired me to write Laila. I was captivated by how karma catches up with the misogynist protagonist, forcing him to live in a female body. Carter's imagination and critique of gender are brilliant.
Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi was a turning point in my early 20s when I first read it in Arabic. It helped shape my feminist consciousness and my stance against the injustices women face. I reread it in English two years ago and was just as deeply moved. El Saadawi remains a personal role model.
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides opened my eyes to the world of intersex individuals and introduced me to Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. It sparked a deep curiosity in me about how human sex develops, and pushed me to explore the complexities beyond the binary.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is probably my all-time favorite. I've read it multiple times, watched the film twice, and even chose it as the focus of my MA dissertation.