Destined to Fail

Anas Afana, the son of a Jordanian diplomat, comes of age amid continuous riots in Sudan during the 1980s. He makes friends, pursues the mischief permitted the privileged sons of officials, and falls in love with soccer, at which he excels. Back in Jordan, his parents force him take his academics more seriously, even when he is recruited to a professional soccer team in Amman. Just hours after his last high school exam, Anas's father announces they are leaving for America the next day. A few weeks later, he leaves Anas at a rural community college in Iowa, returning to Jordan without him. The shock of this event marks Anas for the rest of his life. Only seventeen and with little knowledge of English, he must suddenly fend for himself. He grows up fast.

After graduating college, Anas goes on to establish a successful business, and continues to assimilate and thrive in the US. Then, suddenly, he loses his wife and his home, and is tasked with rescuing his business from bankruptcy. Though the next several years are a personal hell, Anas's resistance to failure leads him to emerge as a better person. The story of a life rebuilt many times over, Destined to Fail attests to the power of resilience and personal growth. How do you reconcile an easy life with a hard one? What does a mindset of survival do to your heart?

Anas Afana owns a business in Omaha, Nebraska and has two grown-up children, Nader and Danah, who are now in college. He travels between America's Heartland and Denver, where he spends time with his wife, Natasha. This is his first book.

Stella Bellow is an artist and writer with a BFA in Illustration and Literature from Parsons and The New School. Originally, she hails from the ancient hills and woodlands of the Berkshires, where she spends her summers working and creating. This is her first book.