{"id":14125,"date":"2025-07-05T13:08:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T17:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nykcc.org\/?p=14125"},"modified":"2025-08-02T06:22:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T10:22:13","slug":"ozzy-by-ibrahim-selman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/ozzy-by-ibrahim-selman\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Ozzy&#8221; by Ibrahim Selman"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"14125\" class=\"elementor elementor-14125\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-03029dc e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"03029dc\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7a788c0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"7a788c0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">\"Ozzy: A Smile for a While\" by Ibrahim Selman<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2435d4e e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2435d4e\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9858809 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9858809\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-14033\" src=\"https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/oldsite\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Ozzy-cover-640x1024.jpg\" alt=\"black spots and cracks on white background\" width=\"350\" height=\"560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Ozzy-cover-640x1024.jpg 640w, https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Ozzy-cover-188x300.jpg 188w, https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Ozzy-cover-768x1228.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Ozzy-cover.jpg 938w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/>Ibrahim Selman, <em>Ozzy: A Smile for a While.<\/em> Self-published, 2024<\/strong><\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">T<em>he book club discussed this novel on July 1, 2025.<\/em><\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>From the publisher:<\/em><\/strong><\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Losing your dog is deeply sorrowful\u2014just as heartbreaking as losing a beloved human.\u00a0Family dramas play out in the shadow of cultural fears. Political and religious oppression cast their long shadows. Will unconditional love triumph, or will it falter? Humor and sarcasm offer a brief reprieve from the pain.<\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the final drive to the veterinary clinic to say goodbye to the cherished dog, Ozzy, the narrator embarks on a journey through the tangled labyrinth of his mind. This journey spans more than a century, weaving together family histories and the political and religious conflicts that continue to plague the Middle East. Heavy themes are lightened and given perspective through a humorously sarcastic lens.<\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The narrator\u2019s cultural background lends the story added depth and educational value. The interactions and conflicts between the characters, enriched by their unique family histories and cultural identities, make the narrative dynamic, thought-provoking, and full of &#8220;aha&#8221; moments. The exploration of loss\u2014be it the loss of a pet, freedom, or ideals\u2014offers readers existential and reflective layers to delve into.<\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Book club discussion<\/em><\/strong><\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The author, who was present for the discussion, explained that it\u2019s mostly autobiographical. Ozzy was a real dog who died. \u201cI didn\u2019t understand the feelings of the animals before, but Ozzy had the same emotions, and every day I wondered how dumb I had been. Every day I discovered new things with that small dog. Six months after his death, I still couldn\u2019t leave it.\u201d Hence the novel. Asked about his use of humor, he replied, \u201cIt\u2019s my way of surviving. If I didn\u2019t mix humor and sarcasm, I would never have reached this age.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Ozzy: A Smile for a While&#8221; by Ibrahim Selman \u00a0 Ibrahim Selman, Ozzy: A Smile for a While. Self-published, 2024 The book club discussed this novel on July 1, 2025. From the publisher: Losing your dog is deeply sorrowful\u2014just as heartbreaking as losing a beloved human.\u00a0Family dramas play out in the shadow of cultural fears. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14124,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,191,62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-club","category-culture-news","category-literature"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14125"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14147,"href":"https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14125\/revisions\/14147"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nykcc.org\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}