Iran: A destination that is seldom seen by westerners yet often misunderstood. A country that simultaneously “enchants & enrages” those who visit it. A place where leading a double life has become the norm. In Couchsurfing in Iran, award-winning author Stephan Orth spends sixty-two days on the road in this mysterious Islamic republic to provide a revealing, behind-the-scenes look at life in one of the world’s most closed societies. Through the unsurpassed hospitality of twenty-two hosts, he skips the guidebooks & tourist attractions & travels from Persian carpet to bed to cot, covering more than 8, 400 kilometers to recount “this world’s hidden doings.” Experiencing daily what he calls the “two Irans” that coexist side by side?the “theocracy, where people mourn their martyrs” in mausoleums, & the “hide-&-seek-ocracy, where people hold secret parties & seek worldly thrills instead of spiritual bliss”?he learns that Iranians have become experts in navigating around their country’s strict laws. Though couchsurfing is officially prohibited in Iran?the state fears spies would be able to travel undetected through the country?more than a hundred thousand Iranians are registered with online couchsurfing portals. & thanks to these hospitable, English-speaking strangers, Orth gets up close & personal with locals, peering behind closed doors & blank windows to uncover the inner workings of a country where public show & private reality are strikingly opposed.