''A Season of Stones'' is a 1991 non-fiction book by Helen Winternitz. The book was released in October 1991 through the

Atlantic Monthly Press Grove Atlantic, Inc. is an American independent publisher, based in New York City. Formerly styled "Grove/Atlantic, Inc.", it was created in 1993 by the merger of Grove Press and Atlantic Monthly Press. As of 2018 Grove Atlantic calls itself " ...

and centers upon Winternitz's time in the West Bank village of

Nahalin Nahalin, also spelled Nahaleen, () is a Palestinian village located in the Bethlehem Governorate of the State of Palestine, to the southwest of Bethlehem in the West Bank. The village was well known for beekeeping and tens of beehives still exist i ...

Synopsis

The book follows Winterintz during her stay in Nahalin during the late 1980s. During her stay she is accused of being a spy and at one point is nearly stoned to death. She witnesses land being taken away from the villagers for subsidized Israeli settlements and survives by learning

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Reception

Reception for the book was positive, with the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' calling it "an endearing guide". Reviewers for ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'', ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'', and ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

'' all gave positive reviews for ''A Season of Stones''.

Richard Marius Richard Curry Marius (July 29, 1933 – November 5, 1999) was an American academic and writer. He was a scholar of the Reformation, novelist of the American South, speechwriter, and teacher of writing and English literature at Harvard Universi ...

gave a positive but controversial review for ''A Season of Stones'' in Harvard's alumni magazine, which prompted

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

to rescind an offer of

employment Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Season of Stones 1991 non-fiction books American memoirs Atlantic Monthly Press books Books about Palestine (region)