Public Libraries of Suffolk County, New York

Go back to where you came from, and other helpful recommendations on how to become American, Wajahat Ali

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages [241]-258)

autobiography

no index present

non fiction

Go back to where you came from

bibliography

Wajahat Ali

and other helpful recommendations on how to become American

"A rollercoaster ride of a memoir, by turns hilarious and heartbreaking, by the journalist, playwright, and political activist Wajahat Ali. "Go back to where you came from, you terrorist!" This is just one of the many warm, lovely, and helpful tips that Wajahat Ali and other children of immigrants receive on a daily basis. Go back where exactly? His hometown in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he can't afford rent? Awkward, left-handed, suffering from OCD, and wearing Husky pants, Ali grew up on the margins of the American mainstream, devoid of Brown superheroes, where people like him were portrayed as goofy sidekicks, shop owners with funny accents, sweaty terrorists, or aspiring sweaty terrorists. Driven by his desire to expand the American narrative to include protagonists who look like him, he became a writer, and in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, an accidental activist and ambassador of all things Muslim-y. He uses his pen with turmeric-stained fingernails to fill in missing narratives, challenge the powerful, and booby trap racist stereotypes. In his bold, hopeful and hilarious memoir, Ali offers indispensable lessons and strategies to help cultivate a more compassionate America"--, Provided by publisher

Introduction -- Create your own superhero origin story -- Say hello to America's oldest friend -- Do something useful -- Be moderate so America will (maybe) love you (conditionally) one day (inshallah) -- Die hard in Amreeka -- Avoid jail -- Become a domestic crusader -- Die Hard 2: Die Harder in Amreeka -- Elect a Muslim president, but beware of economic anxiety -- Invest in hope, but tie your camel first

adult