the core of the Azerbeidshan people were Jews" – a characterization that Cerkez Qurbanov, who translated Blood and Oil into Azeri, vociferously denied was true about Blood and Oil in the Orient. Wendell Steavenson, in her 2002 book Stories I Stole: From Georgia reported that "Vazirov the younger called Lev Nussimbaum a fraudster, a 'charlatan', not a Bakuvian, who wrote twelve books 'of an adventurist nature' but had nothing to do with Ali and Nino. Ali and Nino, he declared 'is a pure Azerbaijani novel.' His father, he said, had written Ali and Nino and managed to get it published in Vienna through a cousin who lived there. There were too many details that matched: Kurban Said must have been an Azeri. 'He even knew all about a special kind of Shusha cheese, which only a man from Shusha would know about.' Vazirov argued." Assertions that Azerbaijani nationalism motivates the advocacy of Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli's authorship At least four scholars of Azerbaijani literature and culture have expressed skepticism about Azerbaijan International’s arguments for Chamanzaminli’s authorship of Ali and Nino. They have offered two kinds of criticism: one is a political rejection of the latent exclusionary nationalism they feel has motivated the campaign for establishing Chamanzaminli as the novel’s "core author." The other criticizes Azerbaijan International'''s interpretation of the book as having derived from Chamanzaminli himself. The Azerbaijani novelist and literary critic Chingiz Huseynov (or Guseinov), who teaches at Moscow State University, cautioned in 2004 against being "driven by 'ethno-emotions' that may compel us to tie this piece to Azerbaijani literature at any cost." Renowned Azerbaijani poet, mathematician, and founder of Baku’s Khazar University Hamlet Isakhanli oglu Isayev has also spoken out against nationalistic motivations in the campaign for Chamanzaminli's authorship. "I think that appealing to the Azerbaijanis' sense of national pride by trying to prove that Chamanzaminli wrote the novel is counterproductive. ... As an Azerbaijani I don’t feel any more proud because an ethnic Azeri supposedly wrote the novel." Another commentator is Alison Mandaville, a professor of literature at California State University, Fresno who has translated fiction from Azerbaijani to English and has published extensively on Azerbaijani literature and culture. Alison Mandaville's articles on Azerbaijani literature and culture include "Mullahs to Donkeys: Cartooning in Azerbaijan."Over any obstacle: a conversation with Azerbaijani Writer Afaq Masud," World Literature Today (Sept. 1, 2009): 14–17"Trading Culture: Practical Background for Azerbaijani-English Poetry Translation," Khazar