Beyond Our Degrees of Separation

A narrative weave of testimonial non-fiction by Judith Ravin and Muhammad Hassan Miraj, Beyond Our Degrees of Separation evokes points of intersection between the United States and Pakistan. Hailing from oxymoronic bureaucracies, the co-authors transcend their respective realms of diplomacy and the military to reaffirm commonalities beyond differences. The alternating narratives trace their real-life discovery of equivalent experiences within dissimilar worlds. From an off-hand discussion during a one-off encounter, they embark on a project to prove that words and culture have the power to transform. Themes include displacement, social justice, cross-border issues, terrorism, loss, and interfaith harmony. Beyond Our Degrees of Separation delights in the documentation of that journey, along with all journeys, and demonstrates how travel and fate obey their own logic, ever-populating with wonderment the imagination of the "geographically disturbed" - those who live in perpetual wanderlust.