Leaving High School Behind For A Dangerous Life In 'A Good Country'
How does Rez, a laid-back stoner surfer dude from Laguna Beach, get drawn into a web of fanaticism? Laleh Khadivi's new novel tells the story of Alireza Courdee from the time he's a 14-year-old chemistry whiz, the son of Iranian immigrants, to his transformation into an American kid who who leaves America behind, in all ways, Khadivi says there's no straight line from bong hits to radicalization, but, she says, "I do think there's something that happens to boys becoming men that is a series of rites of passage. And ... illicit drugs or having sex, or any of these taboo things are some of these portals that kids go through, boys especially. And fanaticism to me, as I was witnessing it in a global way, was the last portal. And I wanted to write something that charted these transitions."
