Scan barcode
bookalong's review against another edition
5.0
"You are 19 years in America, you become an American on November 2001 and you realize you could have had a child in that time. You have no kids, no husband, no home you own, no roots. No real reason to be here. Trump becomes president and your old country is on the list of the six countries of the "Muslim ban". You are suddenly a Muslim. No one doubts your browness anymore. You realize that every day is lesson in America, the real America, the violent one."
•
Thoughts~
I reccomend checking this one out! I really enjoyed these relevant, moving, honest and eye opening essays about being an Iranian immigrant in America.
Porochista Khakpour and her family lived a prosperous life in Iran, but the Iranian Revolution found them escaping to America. In Los Angeles they found themselves living a much different life, one with cultural alienation. Through memories Porochista shares what everyday diaspora feels like, living through 9/11, and America's continued rocky relationship with Iran. She explores her search for identity, touching on mental health, creative writing, and more.
This was a deeply honest read. Another book white people should be required to read in my opinion. Her memoir SICK was interesting reading as well.
•
Thank You to the publisher for sending me this book opinions are my own.
•
For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong
•
Thoughts~
I reccomend checking this one out! I really enjoyed these relevant, moving, honest and eye opening essays about being an Iranian immigrant in America.
Porochista Khakpour and her family lived a prosperous life in Iran, but the Iranian Revolution found them escaping to America. In Los Angeles they found themselves living a much different life, one with cultural alienation. Through memories Porochista shares what everyday diaspora feels like, living through 9/11, and America's continued rocky relationship with Iran. She explores her search for identity, touching on mental health, creative writing, and more.
This was a deeply honest read. Another book white people should be required to read in my opinion. Her memoir SICK was interesting reading as well.
•
Thank You to the publisher for sending me this book opinions are my own.
•
For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong
megebeam's review against another edition
5.0
Gosh this is such powerful work. The layers of cultural and individual truths in every single essay... I am seriously astonished by how much I learned reading this. So, so good.
jessidee's review against another edition
Only read a few essays to help a colleague decide if they would work for her class
anahitareads's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book more than I expected I would. Khakpour’s writer’s voice reels you in from the very beginning, and her personal anecdotes didn’t feel tired or repetitive like a lot of writing about Iranian-America and the diaspora tends to feel.
I especially enjoyed these essays/chapters (but I recommend the whole thing): “Revolution Days”, “An Iranian in Mississippi”, “Secret Muslims in the New Year”, “A Muslim-American in Indonesia”, “How to Write Iranian America”, and the titular final piece “Brown Album”.
I especially enjoyed these essays/chapters (but I recommend the whole thing): “Revolution Days”, “An Iranian in Mississippi”, “Secret Muslims in the New Year”, “A Muslim-American in Indonesia”, “How to Write Iranian America”, and the titular final piece “Brown Album”.
venneh's review against another edition
4.0
This is a wonderfully written, deeply raw essay collection. Porochista is very honest about her experience as an immigrant and her feeling of being an exile both from her home country, her immigrant community, and America in general. Yes, 9/11 and Trump’s election does play into these essays heavily. I like that she isn’t afraid to end the book with the essay that is probably the most raw, honest, and angry of all of these, and that it doesn’t end on an upbeat note. Definitely pick this up when it comes out.
helie's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to be more excited by this book than I was. I usually enjoy hearing audiobooks read by the author, but in this case, I think another actor could have done the book better justice. There were some fascinating anecdotes and stories from Khakpour's life, but I was looking for more insight than I found.
balkeyeston's review against another edition
5.0
Khakpour writes so approachably about the very things I myself am struggling to avoid confronting on the page, though readers keep asking me to come back to it: race and identity in America. She brings to light all the questions others have expected me to answer, as well as all the flaws of the very subject of racial identity made raw in Trump's America. I can tell she's tired of repeating herself. Here at last, she no longer has to.
Longer review to come.
Longer review to come.
amhey's review against another edition
4.0
I had to get used to her style of writing, but I appreciated what she said. There were some essays I liked more than others, especially her last one. She talked about how her illness and whiteness played together, how the people she depended on couldn’t accept her identity and put words into her mouth. Khakpour wrote about how much others expected of her as an Iranian-American and how frustrating it was for her when white people erased her brownness.