Contents -- Introduction -- Part One: The Arab Street -- Map of the Middle East -- Letter 1: Head First, Lost in Amman -- Letter 2: Palestine, Palestine, Palestine -- Letter 3: Three-Minute Showers and the Heinz Ketchup Eaters -- Letter 4: Life in the Seven-Layer Dip -- Part Two: From American Superstar to Baby Killer -- Map of Syria -- Letter 5: Istanbul to Antakya: From Europe's Back Porch to Syria's Doorstep -- Letter 6: Adventures with St. Simon, Jackie Chan, and the Ghost of T. E. Lawrence -- Letter 7: Syria's Walls: Public Space and Private Worlds -- Part Three: Living the Life -- Map of Jordan -- Letter 8: ''Fast Times'' at Jordan University and Friday Lunch with Abu Alaa -- Letter 9: Anti-Americanism: America Haters and the Assassination of Laurence Foley -- Letter 10: Fasting Without Feasting -- Letter 11: Anti-Americanism: American Policy Critics and a Night at the Club -- Letter 12: A Woman's World -- Letter 13: Crossing Palestine -- Letter 14: Pickaxes and Squeegees -- Part Four: The Beating Heart of the Arab East -- Map of Egypt -- Letter 15: The Mother of the World -- Letter 16: Amid the Ambers of the Arab Street -- Letter 17: Salah al Fuli and the Fall of Baghdad -- Letter 18: Beauty and the Beasts -- Letter 19: Amman Dreaming -- Letter 20: The Oasis -- Epilogue -- Glossary -- A -- B -- C -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- M -- N -- R -- S -- U -- Acknowledgments.