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Go Back to Where You Came From
Bookseller recommendation
“This was an excellent memoir told with humor and grace. Ali is sharp, smart and hilarious. Despite many hardships, he still is optimistic while telling hard truths that people need to hear. I listened to this and Ali is an excellent narrator. I do think there is something to that Ali curse, especially on the physical side and I wish his family the very best.”
Audrey,
Belmont Books
Summary
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.