Marwan: The Autobiography of a 9/11 Terrorist by Aram Schefrin--Book Review

An engrossing novel that leads up to the worst attack on United States citizens on American soil, Marwan: The Autobiography of a 9/11 Terrorist is difficult to read, but also difficult to put down.

Marwan doesn't worship Allah and he certainly isn't ready to die for him, so how did he get involved in a plot that would hijack planes with the intent of crashing them into strategically chosen buildings on American soil? From that first meeting in Hamburg, Germany until the moment the planes take off, Marwan has doubts about the plan that is meant to cripple America, tear at its belief system, and return people to the one true God. But in the end, those doubts aren't enough to keep him from doing what must be done.

I approached Marwan with a fair amount of trepidation. As I asked the author when he stopped by The Book Connection in February, did it occur to him that Americans might not be ready for such a book? I wasn't sure I was ready for it, having not been able to watch a single documentary or read one book about September 11th since it happened.

Schefrin does an excellent job of approaching this controversial topic. He mixed known facts with fiction and came out with a balanced look at how the events of September 11th could have unfolded.

There were moments when this reader was disturbed by the thoughts and dialogue:

"If Jesus saw what they've done to him, the next time he would kill himself. Jesus' truth, if he has one, is Islam, not Chritianity." (Page 93)

"'I want you to understand that what we are asking you to do will remake the universe. It will bring down America, and restore the world to Islam....No Muslim has done more for the faith than you will do....And all of Islam will know it. You will be eternal in their eyes.'" (Page 115)

"'Americans are the most filthy of human beings!'" (Page 131)

But those moments are countered by the moments of doubt that Marwan and Jarrah experience. You're dealing with complex and conflicted men whose internal battle is a struggle for what they want versus what is good for Islam.

Marwan begins in New York City in June 2000 and then travels back and forth in time to provide the reader with the necessary backstory to bring them to the final days leading up to the attacks on September 11th. Another book that used this format is Carole Whang Schutter's September Dawn--an equally controverisal title with strong religious ties. In both instances, I found this time traveling format challening to follow, and in Marwan it is further complicated by the changing point of view--which fluctuates between first person and third. This challenge was removed when the time line began to constantly move forward from July 2001 up to the moment when the planes took off.

Schefrin's attention to detail and knowledge of the facts lends much to this novel. And I do believe that the author achieved his objective: "you have to understand your enemies if you want to defend yourself."

In Marwan readers will find a fair and well-researched novel that sheds light on one of the worst moments in American history.


Title: Marwan: The Autobiography of a 9/11 Terrorist
Author: Aram Schefrin
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1-4343-3288-2
U.S. Price: $17.95

Marwan by Aram Schefrin

Just like people in the sixties can tell you where they were when JFK was shot, and people who grew up in the eighties can tell you what they were doing when they heard about the Challenger explosion, everyone you talk to can tell you where they were and what they were doing on the morning of September 11, 2001. I was home with my month-old daughter when the phone rang. My husband was on the line.

"Turn on the TV and tell me what the hell is going on," he said in a voice that didn't give me much reason for concern.

As I waited for the picture to appear on the screen I asked why he was calling.

"Two planes just crashed into the World Trade Center."

September 11th was a day of terrible loss. As I watched the news, day in and day out, sometimes only getting a few hours of sleep, I remembered the words I spoke to my husband when I called him back a while later to tell him of what was going on at the Pentagon.

"We're at war!"

And it frightened me. America had never been attacked in my lifetime and I feared our lives might never be the same.

Several books have been written about the events of September 11th, but none from a terrorists' point of view...until now.

Aram Schefrin is the author of the novel Marwan: The Autobiography of a 9/11 Terrorist. I asked Aram if while he was writing Marwan did it cross his mind that Americans might not be ready for such a book.

Here is his answer:

You ask whether, when I wrote Marwan, if I was concerned that it might be too soon for a book like that.

The answer is: Not really. To understand that, you have to know why I wrote the book.

After 9/11, I realized that I knew nothing of the people who had attacked us, or the reasons why they had done it. I read up on al Qaeda, then on Islamic fundamentalism, then on Islam itself and the history of the region. Then I felt I understood what was behind the attack.

The intellectuals of the jihadist movement may be motivated by theory, and the clerics by theology. But for most of the jihadists, religious extremism is brought about by other problems they have: economic, social, political, cultural, psychological.

The American conversation on 9/11 seems to be based on the conviction that we are in a religious war which is inevitable, unavoidable and will last a long time. I thought – and I think – the book was important because I believe it's critical that people understand (if only for self-protection) that the so-called "clash of civilizations" is not inevitable; that there are things that could have been done, and still should be done, to avoid the likelihood of more 9/11s; that is, by understanding all of the factors that entered into it and variously motivated its protagonists – their frustrations, their humiliations, their sociopathy, their unmet needs, etc. In Marwan, I was able to tell a story which included all those motivations by assigning each to a character who, in fact, mostly acted because of it. Only Marwan, the lead character, is more a product of my imagination – and that’s because I gave him more complexity, in order to be able to explain even more of why these people do what they do.

I finished the book in 2003, and I submitted it then to New York publishers, through an agent. I was hoping they would understand why it was important that the point of view I was working from needed to be discussed. That’s when I found out it was way too early for the book.

New York publishing houses were still deep in grief. They considered it insulting and outrageous to present a book about 9/11 which was written (more or less) from the terrorists’ point of view – even though the book made no attempt to excuse their conduct. Others felt that only a Muslim could write about Muslims. For those reasons (I was told), I could not sell the book.

So much has happened since then as a result of the fact that Marwan’s point of view still isn’t being considered, and nothing has been done to understand – let alone get at – the root causes of Islamic terrorism. We call them Islamofascists – which I consider a ridiculous, meaningless term. We dig in for a war that is going to last for generations. I got an email today from a friend of mine who is afraid that Obama is a secret Muslim (read “terrorist.”) It gets more and more insane.

I don’t believe we are “at war” with jihadists. They will pull off more attacks, but they don’t yet seriously threaten Western civilization – not even as much as some European nihilistic terrorist groups have in the fairly recent past. This so-called war is political cover for a whole lot of other things being done in, and to, the United States – and not by terrorists. Their threat could, however, become much more dangerous – if we continue to be unable to understand them and therefore continue to feed what drives them. Then we’ll have a serious Holy War.

Just to be clear, I don’t think people like bin Laden or Ramzi bin al Shibh can be converted, or diverted. They are too personally invested in what they believe. I think the way to deal with al Qaeda is to marginalize them by taking away the reasons new people flock to the movement – diverting them from the movement, and then wiping out the hard core militarily. We have done plenty of “wiping,” and basically no “diverting.” How the diverting is to be done, I leave to other minds. But it’s high time they started working on it. We really don’t want to have to fight a billion Muslims.

Not too long ago, Jonathon Safran Foer came out with his book “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”, which revolved around 9/11. Then there was Updike’s book. I decided that fiction was ready to deal with the topic. However, no one has yet attempted what I did with Marwan. I still think it’s important that people understand what the 9/11 attack was really about – or at least consider what I think it was about. I did not want to deal with publishers again, so I put the book out through AuthorHouse. I believe it’s a book that needs to be read. Fortunately, those people who have read it or reviewed have also said that it is a well-done piece of fiction – so there’s pleasure to be gleaned from the writing itself, although pleasure is not the point of reading this book.


This virtual book tour has been brought to you by: