Listen to the first taste:
*The key poem, "To Taste the Oil" was originally published by The Voices Project, went on to be featured at the University of Colorado's "Eye Contact" event as an audible poem.
To Taste the Oil: The Flavor of Life in the Middle East
Published By Into The Deep Books, June 2014
The West does not understand the Middle Eastern mind. Cultures clash because the latter is rooted in traditions stemming back more than 2,000 years with its roots buried as a palm’s in the desert sands of caravans, trade routes, and the door of faith.
Christians of the Middle East are largely a forgotten people in the West. The author paints word pictures in snapshots, scenes from events in life which are passages—marriage, baptism, death, burial.
Her poetry answers questions about how life in the Middle East is viewed:
- What is it like to live through numerous wars?
- Why do Christians from the Middle East live in diaspora?
- How do those in the Middle East live in peace?
- What is it like to have been a Bedouin, and later forced to settle down?
Married to a Christian from Nazareth, Israel, Kelly Jadon writes To Taste the Oil as seen through American eyes.
Praise for To Taste the Oil:
“Kelly is a poet with heart. I have been to the Holy Land many times and she captures the sights, sounds, and aromas of this land perfectly. Poetry lover and novice alike will not be disappointed. While reading from your den, Kelly’s writing will touch your senses and carry you, perhaps thousands of miles away, to a land filled with antiquities, the Holy Land.”
“Warm, witty and enticing. Kelly has captured in words the sights, sounds and smells of life in the Middle East. I read it and was taken back to my days in Damascus....”
“Kelly’s poems are precise and powerful. They come to us as a gift. They convey her experiences in precise images—the sights and sounds of a different place. Yet the precision of her images also conveys a sense of the place—the values and traditions of another culture. The power of her poetry occurs when we can share those concrete experiences and have a better sense of that culture. Her poems are the next best thing to being there ourselves.”
To Taste the Oil :
- an important book for visitors to the Holy Land
- beneficial to soldiers being deployed to the Middle East and those preparing to reside in the Middle East
- intriguing reading for book clubs
- educational reading for university and high school cultural, historical and literature classes
Available for immediate ebook download on Amazon ($2.99)
Purchase the print copy and get the download for only 99 cents!
Available for immediate audible download on Amazon ($3.46)
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Reader Review: Kelly dips her ladle of life into the minds, hearts, and souls of many of those living in the Middle East. She explores from the minutia of meals to the broad areas of their immigration, emigrations and integrations into and out of various societies. Her book is laden with few words, but many insights, into the lives of our distant non-relatives.~Tony De Angelis, ACB, CL