There was a lot that I loved about this book. The meandering narrative, the tight space of the plot, the humor of the voice, the honest portrayal of a long life marked by civil war and its aftermath. I loved seeing Beirut through a local's eyes. As a very biased individual, though, I couldn't relish this book as much as I'd wanted because her anti-religious lauding of high art and worldly intelligence above all else ultimately became more grating than I could bear.