Armed only with college Arabic and restless curiosity, Adam Valen Levinson set out to ‘learn about the world 9/11 produced us dread.’ From a base in globalized and sterilized Abu Dhabi, he sets out to lunch time in Taliban place in Afghanistan, travels beneath the watchful eye of Aleppo’s magic formula police, dangers shipwreck en route to Somalia, investigates Yazidi values within a sacred cave, cliff-dives in Oman, celebrates New Year’s Eve in Tahrir Square, and, at every change, discovers a place that matches not at all with its status.

While politicians and media eagerly stoke the flames of Islamophobia, Valen Levinson crosses edges with abundant humor and humanity. Seeking common ground everywhere, he finds that people who pray in a different way often chuckle the same. So that as a young guy club mitzvahed at twenty-one (instead of the usual thirteen), he gradually learns how childish it is to live by decisions and distinctions given birth to of fear.