“A deeply appreciated text that is valuable for its commendable effort to understand the Iranian personality.” — Milad Milani, Journal of Religious History
“Fischer has produced a valuable contribution to cinema studies. In addition to presenting the variegated culture of Iran, the author truly captures the character of a nation in its dense richness.” — Z. Pamela Karimi, Art Journal
“Michael M. J. Fischer’s Mute Dreams, Blind Owls, and Dispersed Knowleges: Persian Poesis in the Transnational Circuitry is a much needed and indispensable study of the intertextuality of Iranian film and literature. . . . Mute Dreams is an exceptional work that fills a lacuna in comprehensive studies on Persian poesis.” — Ghazzal Dabiri, Journal of Shi‘a Islamic Studies
"[Michael M. J. Fischer is] a sophisticated postmodern anthropologist. . . . Recommended." — A. Mahdi, Choice,
"This huge, comprehensive compendium is useful for anyone interested in Persian culture, especially the evolution of Iranian cinema, which in a relatively short time has become one of the most admired in the world. Readers who can plough through nearly 500 pages . . . will be amply rewarded with the introduction to 'a rich cultural heritage to which world civilization is deeply indebted for its religious imagery, literary stories, and philosophical modes of reflection'." — Times Higher Education Supplement,
“No one reading this book can doubt that when one is face-to-face with Iran, one is face-to-face with one of the great world civilizations of all human history.” — William O. Beeman, author of Double Demons: Cultural Impediments to U.S.-Iranian Understanding
“Mute Dreams, Blind Owls, and Dispersed Knowledges is unique, enjoyable, and insightful, and it brings with it a deep understanding, appreciation, and love of Iranian and Persian cultural contexts, oral epics, religious traditions, ethnography, and films.” — Hamid Naficy, author of An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking