Max Weiss is an American scholar and translator, specialising in the culture and history of the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

. He studied biology and history at University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

 before moving on to Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

, where he completed his PhD in modern Middle Eastern history in 2007. He joined the faculty of Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

 in 2010.

Weiss is the author of In the Shadow of Sectarianism: Law, Shi'ism and the Making of Modern Lebanon (2010). He is also a noted translator of contemporary Arabic literature

Arabic literature

Arabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is adab which is derived from a meaning of etiquette, and implies politeness, culture and enrichment....

 into English. His translation of Abbas Beydoun's novel Blood Test won the Arkansas Arabic Translation Award

Arkansas Arabic Translation Award

The Arkansas Arabic Translation Award is a prize given for a notable English translation of a book-length literary work originally written in the Arabic language. The award is administered by the King Fahd Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies at the University of Arkansas...

.

Weiss is also a two-time fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows

Harvard Society of Fellows

The Harvard Society of Fellows is a group of scholars selected at the beginning of their careers by Harvard University for extraordinary scholarly potential, upon whom distinctive academic and intellectual opportunities are bestowed in order to foster their individual growth and intellectual...

.

As author

• In the Shadow of Sectarianism: Law, Shi'ism and the Making of Modern Lebanon (2010)

As translator

• B as in Beirut by Iman Humaydan Younes
  Iman Humaydan Younes
  Iman Humaydan Younes is a Lebanese writer. She was born in the Mount Lebanon governorate in 1956. She studied sociology at the American University in Beirut. She has published two novels till date:* B as in Beirut...
  
  
• Blood Test by Abbas Beydoun
  Abbas Beydoun
  Abbas Beydoun is a Lebanese poet, novelist and journalist. He was born in the village of Sur near Tyre in southern Lebanon. His father was a teacher. Beydoun studied at the Lebanese University in Beirut and the Sorbonne in Paris...
  
  
• A Tunisian Tale by Hassouna Mosbahi
• work by Fawwaz Haddad
  Fawwaz Haddad
  Fawwaz Haddad is a Syrian novelist. He was born in Damascus and studied law at Damascus University. He held several jobs before taking up writing full-time. Haddad published his first novel Mosaic, Damascus '39 in 1991...
  
   (forthcoming)
• work by Nihad Sirees (forthcoming)