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Title details for Go Back to Where You Came From by Wajahat Ali - Available

Go Back to Where You Came From

And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become an American

by Wajahat Ali
Wajahat Ali
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
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? Fremont, California, where he grew up, but now an unaffordable place to live? Or
Pakistan, the country his parents left behind a half-century ago?
While living the American Dream, young Wajahat devoured comic books (devoid of brown superheroes) and fielded well-intentioned advice from uncles and aunties ("Become a doctor!"). He had turmeric stains under his fingernails, was
accident-prone, suffered from OCD, and wore Husky pants. That is, he was as American as his neighbors, with roots all over the world. Then, while Ali was studying at University of California, Berkeley, 9/11 happened. Muslims replaced
Communists as America's enemy #1, and he became an accidental spokesman and ambassador of all ordinary, unthreatening things Muslim-y.
Now a middle-aged dad, Ali has become one of the foremost and funniest public intellectuals in America. In Go Back to Where You Came From, he tackles the dangers of Islamophobia, white supremacy, and chocolate hummus, peppering
personal stories with astute insights into national security, immigration, and pop culture. In this refreshingly bold, hopeful, and uproarious memoir, Ali offers indispensable lessons for cultivating a more compassionate, inclusive, and delicious America.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 25, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781705060629
      • File size: 241044 KB
      • Duration: 08:22:10

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      This is a funny, unsettling, touching, and energetically narrated audiobook about family, culture, and 21st-century America. Wajahat Ali, a playwright and Ted Talk speaker, among other things, knows about keeping an audience engaged, and he does it here. In this expansive performance he seems to be putting on a one-man play for the ears. Few listeners will leave the audio theater early. Ali, a child of Pakistani immigrants, explores the professional, personal, and political. He touches on everything from being an overweight misfit kid to racism, from dealing with his own obsessive-compulsive disorder to falling in love, and from writing his first play to driving his mother to prison. G.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      September 1, 2022

      Aim for truth, and you will find humor. Funny meets political in this packed and revelatory memoir from second-generation Pakistani writer Ali (The Domestic Crusaders), who narrates his personal history. Ali's storytelling prowess shines as he recounts his early life in suburban Freemont, California, with a large community of family and friends. Ensnared in a surge of Islamophobia post 9/11, Ali's college activism gains national press coverage. Ali cites a family curse as the driver behind numerous personal and familial tragedies and near-death scares. The "Amreekan dream" also comes with a lot of xenophobia and racism, which Ali dissects in full force. A lighter note is introduced with funny clapbacks to Internet trolls and a checklist for being a "moderate" Muslim. Listeners will be captivated by the writer's vulnerability. He is especially effective when describing his parents' imprisonment, his struggles with mental health, and his daughter's grave illness. Ali brings this audio to the next level with a well-practiced pace and warm, confident delivery. VERDICT Ending on a note of hopefulness, Ali's memoir urges listeners to do better for the sake of all Americans. Highly recommended for all collections.--Lizzie Nolan

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 8, 2021
      Ali (The Domestic Crusaders), a New York Times contributing writer, pairs searing humor with personal experiences to address xenophobia in America. The son of Pakistani immigrants, Ali grew up in California’s Bay Area and here repurposes the racist insults he’s weathered all his life (the book’s title being a common refrain) to convey difficult truths about America. He uses the term “THE WHITENESS” to refer to both blatant and subtle forms of racism, and humorously compares trying to confront bigotry in the U.S. to an episode of The Twilight Zone, in which a plane passenger tries to warn others the plane is being attacked by goblins, only to be taken away in a straitjacket. Elsewhere, Ali reflects on the life-altering moment the Twin Towers fell, his first “political awakening,” while he was in college, and describes the impact of the media’s portrayal of Muslims as angry terrorists while arguing that, conversely, the top domestic terror threat that needs to be addressed in America is white supremacy. To capture the gravity of his subject, he shares a conversation with his father, who felt compelled to research safe places outside the U.S. for Muslims to live if Trump won the 2020 election. Though Ali fears such a place may not exist, he chooses to “invest in hope” for a more inclusive America. This rousing reflection will encourage readers to do the same.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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