I requested a review copy of Ben Amor's book, believing that I would be reading a memoir of his early life in Tunisia--a country about which I know very little. I anticipated learning about Tunisian culture and about the American immigrant experience. I understood, as well, that Amor had started a charitable organization dedicated to feeding hungry children, and I was curious to know more about this.

I read one-tenth of The Urban Shepherd before calling it quits. First of all, I found the liberal sprinkling of "think-and-grow-rich" style quotations from supposedly inspirational businessmen very off-putting. I know I'm the wrong audience for exhortations about success and getting rich--along the lines of "Believe in yourself, and commit to your dreams." The writing was of poor quality, confusing at times, and in need of some serious revision and editing. The author needed to get more feedback as to what his (North American) readers might like to know about his life, and he needed to provide specific, vivid details beyond cliche. Creating a book with a professional writer would have been the best approach for Amor to tell his story and get his message across effectively.

I did learn a little about the fairly high childhood mortality rate and the low quality of education for Arab Tunisians prior to Independence in 1956 (when the country was a French colony). For Muslim children who did attend school, six years of education was typical. Few Arab children had much exposure to (and knowledge of) French, which was the ticket to higher education.

Sadly, because the writing was of poor quality and the observations so general and underwhelming (e.g. "gaining knowledge and acquiring a sense of self-awareness are priceless") I had no will to invest further time in the book.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me we a digital copy of the book. I regret that I was not able to complete it.