Makdisi’s written two memoirs: Beirut Fragments: A War Memoir (self explanatory, no?) and Teta, Mother and Me, the story of three generations of her family.

This interview was somewhat fractious – they seemed to be talking at cross purposes. Lopate wanted to focus on the repression of women in Arab countries and Makdisi wanted to emphasize that “modernism” doesn’t have to mean “Westernism.” She was a little unwilling to ever give ground, and refused to accept any generalizations. Which in a conversation about an enormous topic isn’t always possible. He, on the other hand, didn’t seem to know how to pick his battles in this one.