European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 29, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pace 24 scene s tars and stripes sunday april 292007 hair raising tale american beautician in Kabul tells her Story v 0 in d d cd co c e d a Deborah Rodriguez has an explanation of sorts As to How a twice divorced cosmetic Ian from Michigan wound up running a Beauty Academy in the most incongruous of locales the Dusty chaotic and Blas barricaded afghan capita something about this place Well something about it just really brings out the Hairdresser in me she said with a wave of her Scarlet fingernails the Hairdresser in me is a kind of personal shorthand for the Char Acter traits on ready display in Rodriguezs engaging new Memoir Kabul Beauty school an Ameri can woman goes behind the veil curiosity Pluck an abiding love of dishy gossip and a warm Bond of sisterhood with the women of her adopted country together with a close knit band of former beaut Academy students Rodriguez presides Over what is perhaps the worlds Only High end hair Salon that is guarded by a gunman and heated by a sooty Wood stove with Popof Therine Beauty products stored in a Chilly Metal shipping Container perched atop a mud Brick Wall in the weedy Yard in the Book published this month by random House ana1 co written with Kristin Ohlson tales of Blond highlights and brazilian waxes blend with a portrait of a society struggling to find its footing five years after the fall of the Taliban one in which fear and oppression still fall most heavily on women in Kabul expatriate Community and beyond the 46yearold Rodriguez is known As miss Debbie a flamboyant figure with Waist length hair in a Shade of red she cheerfully describes As one not found in nature she came to Afghanistan As a Volunteer Aid worker months after the sept 11 2001 attacks and the subsequent fall of the Taliban Uncer Tain whether she had the skills to make any Dent in the despair and disarray she saw around her Rodriguez found her Niche when she made two important discover ies that for afghan women the Beauty Trade had been a treasured but perilous source of underground income during the Taliban Era and that Kabul was full of Western dipl Mats journalists and Aid workers who were simply desperate for a decent haircut As word of her skills spread she had been working As a hair Dresser since the age of 15 Rodriguez would return to her guest House room to find the door plastered with notes from foreigners pleading for an appointment it was like they were searching for water in the desert she recalled at the same time Rodriguez was meeting afghan women and realizing How limited were their opportunities for earning a livelihood due in Large measure to the traditional beliefs of their husbands and fathers relatively few were Able to work outside the Home even once the Taliban had been toppled with the country having been closed off from the outside world for years afghan beauticians who had previously managed to eke out a living from secret salons in their Homes were bad Yin need of training and sup plies if they wanted to launch themselves in business the heart of the Book is Rodriguezs relationship with the women she befriended in the Beauty facade my which was originally established with other Ameri can hairdressers and became the subject of a documentary film she helped some of her students found their own Small salons but plucked out the most talented ones for lucrative jobs in her Oasis Salon in the Center of Kabul which has a mainly foreign clientele and charges Western style prices Money that is then slowed Back into the Beauty school the stories of the women who Are Given pseudonyms in the Book Are a troubling and fascinating snapshot of life in today Afghanistan ones father inlaw considers her a prostitute for working As a beautician another Taliban husband beats her and confiscates her earnings another was forced into marriage As a teenage with a much older Man As the salons clients come and go the beauticians drink Tea toy with one another hair and makeup gossip freely and talk haltingly sometimes with Pierc ing simplicity of their troubles Rodriguez can relate to the Complex and difficult lives of her afghan coworkers she said in part be cause her life has taken a turn she never imagined three years ago after an acquaintance of just 20 Days she married an afghan Man a decade her Junior who already had a wife and children living in exile in saudi Arabia thus the books overarching theme of women empowerment is shot through with descriptions of Rodriguezs struggles including her scalding jealousy when her afghan husbands other wife gave birth to another child two years after they married Asa Novice author Rodriguez was nervous about the books reception but reviews have generally been favourable with some predicting it is All but tailored for massive Success with Book clubs Usa today bestselling Book list key fiction of nonfiction hard cover paperback 1 the secret by Rhonda Byrne of he 2 Einstein his life and uni verse by Walter Isaacson 3 two Utrie Gizis in Blue by Mary Higgins Clark up 4 at risk by Patricia Gornel Foj 5 the Road by Cormac Mccarthy up 61 heard that song before by Mary Higgins Clark Fth 7 gone by Jonathan Kellerman up 8 hot stuff by Janef Evanovich Leanne Banks Fps 9 Nineteen minutes by Jodi Picoult Fth 10 everyday pasta by Giada Delaurentiis nah 1 the memory keepers daughter by Kim Edwards Fps 12 the measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier nip 13 the weight loss cure they dont want you to know about by Kevin Trudeau nah 14 eldest inheritance Book i by Christopher Paolini Fps 15 fruits Basket volume 16 by Natsuki Takaya up 16 blink by Malcolm Gradweil a Fps 17 fresh disasters by Stuart Woods of 18 women Money owning the Power to control your destiny by suze orman nah 19 Mcke tricks heart by Linda 20 a Long Way gone by Ishma i Beah nah 21 the gloss Casrie a Memoir by Jeannette Walls nip 22 second sight by Amanda Quick up 23 Promise me by Harlan Coben up 24 the hard Way by Lee child exercise your brain 25 iat Pray love by Elizabeth Gilbert a Fps 26 judge jury by James Patter son Andrew Gross Fps 27 Paula Deen it aint ail about the Cookin by Paula Deen Sherry suib Cohen nah 28 kingdom come the final Victory by Tim Lahaye Jerry 8 Jenkins Fth 29 obsession by Jonathan Keller Man Fth 30 everyday food great food fast by Martha Stewart nip 3 go put of i your strengths to work by Marcus Buckingham nah 32 the Macgregor Danielian by Nora Roberts up 33 suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky up 34 slaughterhouse five by Kurt 35 you on a diet by Michael f Rolfzen Mehmet c of nah 36 sleeping with strangers by Eric Jerome Dickey Fth 37 prior bad acts by Tami Hoag up 38 to not easy being mean a clique novel by Lisi Harrison Fps 39 the Power of simple prayer by Joyce Meyer of he 40 the year of magical think ing by Joan Didion a Fps parts word puzzles sudoku Horoscope from dear Abby to Dilbert daily Al american amusement in 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