Only This Beautiful Moment By Abdi Nazemian

This book has a unique story to it, following three separate generations of boys/men through their experiences with love. Moud (pronounced Mood) is a queer teen who lives in present day LA. Saeed is his father who struggles to deal with his son’s identity and his own past. Bobby (or Baba) is Moud’s grandfather and Saeed’s father. He lives in Tehran, Iran, where he keeps his own sexuality very private. This twisting tale takes you on a journey through an inter-generational struggle to come to terms with who they are, and accepting each other for who they are. A family with high tensions reunites after an emergency calls Moud and Saeed back to Tehran. While there, the family must come together or risk severing bonds. This is a journey of self-discovery, forgiveness, and of love. 

About the Book                                                                                                      Awards and Recognition

• Title: Only This Beautiful Moment                                    • Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

• Author: Abdi Nazemian                                                         • Starred review from School Library Journal

• Genre: Historical/Contemporary Fiction / LGBTQ+                        • Featured on Best-of-the-year lists by

• Published in 2023                                                                                              Kirkus, NPR, and Book Riot                                                             

• Pages: 384                                                                                                                                                        

Why This Book? 

I chose this book because it had a unique structure and great reviews. I had never encountered a book like this before, which covers multiple generations living side by side. Also, after getting to read Persepolis, I was curious to read more about Iran and what it takes to survive there as a queer man, or the son of queer parents. I find that the cultural dynamics add a lot to the dynamism to a story!

Teaching and Content Considerations

• While this book has some heavy themes it doesn’t cross too many lines. This book could work well as a small group read and discuss text within a classroom that has inclusive norms and can be mature about encountering mature themes. 

• I would recommend this book to grades 10+ to ensure that it is taken seriously, as some portions are quite sexually charged. 

• Content warnings include homophobia, violence, mild sex scenes, and emotionally heavy content. 

Instructional Ideas

• Thematic instruction around themes of queer identities domestic and abroad, multiculturalism, acceptance and forgiveness, sociopolitical influence, and family. 

• Literary techniques that could be taught with this as a mentor text could be split narration, incorporating multiple timelines, and creating complex family dynamics. 

Suggested Read-Aloud Passages

• Pages 1- 4: This introduces Moud as he struggles with his queer identity and his cultural identity battling it out with each other to become who Moud is. He tries to avoid coming out or being gay in front of his father, but also rejects his father’s apparent homophobia when talking to his boyfriend and friends. 

• Pages 189 - 192: This section follows Baba as he speaks on his experience being queer in Tehran during the 1970s. How he lived a dual life, pretending to be heterosexual but moonlighting as queer during the twilight hours of the day. He speaks on how liberating it was but also the dangers of being caught and arrested by the police.

Overall Thoughts and Reflection

This book starts out a bit slow but picks up the pace as the family reunites in Iran. Once all of their stories begin to converge, they add depth to the relationships they share create a more dynamic reading experience. Also, the stories begin slowly because of the narration style; that is being split into three separate narrators with individual timelines. As I reached the middle of the book the story became much more compelling, much more emotional, and even adding some elements of mystery. I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. I particularly enjoyed that this novel also included heterosexual representation as a comparative lens to the homosexual side. This is often something left out but makes for a more encompassing reading experience. 

Next Steps? 

Because this book is also from Iran, I find that I am becoming more interested in the works of fiction produced in that region of the world. Also, I would love to read more books that feature inter-generational narration. I found that to be quite an interesting dynamic, even if I didn’t pick up on it at first!