"Heather Raffo's 9 Parts of Desire is a portrait of the extraordinary (and ordinary) lives of a cross section of Iraqi women: a sexy painter, a radical Communist, a doctor, an exile, wives, and lovers. Delving into the many conflicting aspects of what it means to be a woman in the age-old war zone that is Iraq, this poetic work is an unusually timely meditation on the ancient, the modern, and the feminine."--Jacket.