The Good Immigrant Audiobook By Nikesh Shukla - editor, Chimene Suleyman - editor cover art

The Good Immigrant

26 Writers Reflect on America

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The Good Immigrant

By: Nikesh Shukla - editor, Chimene Suleyman - editor
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, full cast
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About this listen

By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, troubling and uplifting, these "electric" essays come together to create a provocative, conversation-sparking, multivocal portrait of modern America (The Washington Post).

From Trump's proposed border wall and travel ban to the marching of white supremacists in Charlottesville, America is consumed by tensions over immigration and the question of which bodies are welcome. In this much-anticipated follow-up to the bestselling UK edition, hailed by Zadie Smith as "lively and vital," editors Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman hand the microphone to an incredible range of writers whose humanity and right to be here is under attack.

  • Chigozie Obioma unpacks an Igbo proverb that helped him navigate his journey to America from Nigeria.
  • Jenny Zhang analyzes cultural appropriation in 90s fashion, recalling her own pain and confusion as a teenager trying to fit in.
  • Fatimah Asghar describes the flood of memory and emotion triggered by an encounter with an Uber driver from Kashmir.
  • Alexander Chee writes of a visit to Korea that changed his relationship to his heritage.

These writers, and the many others in this urgent collection, share powerful personal stories of living between cultures and languages while struggling to figure out who they are and where they belong.

READ BY Emily Woo Zeller, Sebastián Villar Rojas, Teju Cole, Porochista Khakpour, Nicole Dennis-Benn, Rahawa Haile, Priya Minhas, Walé Oyéjidé, Fatimah Asghar, Tejal Rao, Jim St. Germain, Fatima Mirza, Alexander Chee, Yann Mounir Demange, Mona Chalabi, Jade Chang, Susanne Ramírez de Arellano, Basim Usmani, Jean Hannah Edelstein, Daniel José Older, Jenny Zhang, Chigozie Obioma, Maeve Higgins, Krutika Mallikarjuna, Dani Fernandez, and Chimene Suleyman

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 The Good Immigrant Limited (P)2019 Hachette Audio
Civics & Citizenship Civil Rights & Liberties Emigration & Immigration Essays Nonfiction Funny
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Critic reviews

"This collection is a resounding success on multiple fronts. Its righteous rage is perfectly matched by its literary rewards...a surround-sound chorus that bristles with an unpredictable, electric energy...Each essay is a tantalizing introduction—and invitation—to the larger body of work these artists have already created and will continue to make long after this moment passes. What unites this defiant chorus of immigrant voices is best expressed in this variation on an enduring line by Langston Hughes: 'We, too sing America.'"—The Washington Post

"The strength of this collection is in its diversity—of gender, sexuality, privilege, experience, and writing style. A gift for anyone who understands or wants to learn about the breadth of experience among immigrants to the U.S., this collection showcases the joy, empathy, and fierceness needed to adopt the country as one's own."—PublishersWeekly (Starred Review)

"This book does what books can do better than other media: it devotes space to the shadowy ranges, to the subjects that are not easily graspable—the ineffable, varied, certainly never simple experiences of being an immigrant."—Rachel Khong, The Guardian

What listeners say about The Good Immigrant

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Eye opening!

This book is a MUST read! I definitely have a different view of the people who make up America.... their stories, their struggles, their triumphs!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

Powerful stories of the diverse immigrant experience---funny, sad, engaging, and an important reminder of the myths of a monolithic narrative.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing!! A must read! to all the immigrants

Loved all the stories similar to mine, we are all differents but so similar!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

an essential

pleas listen to this it is such an amazing work with so many takeaways and I will definitely be re-listening to it

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A Must!

Truly enjoyed the different experiences and perspectives from the authors. I found comfort in their stories because I too am an immigrant.

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Brilliant!

This is the first book I ever found which brought an authentic stories about immigrants.. bravo! loved every story!!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Necessary and timely

A necessary and timely essay collection concerning the current status of US immigration US under the Trump Administration and the individual experiences of 26 people who have immigrated to America or are the children of immigrants. Though not every essay was my cup of tea due to writing style, I found all of them interesting and important.

How to Write Iranian-American, or the Last Essay by Porochista Khakpour
Swimmer by Nicole Dennis-Benn
Sidra by Rahawa Haile
On the Blackness of the Panther by Teju Cole
How Not to Be by Priya Minhas
After Migration: The Once and Future Kings by Wale Oyejide
Chooey-Booey and Brown by Tejal Rao
Luck of the Irish by Meave Higgins
Her Name Was India by Krutika Malikarjuna
Shithole Nation by Jim St. Germain
Blond Girls in Chenogsams by Jenny Zhang
The Naked Man by Chigozie Obioma
Your Father's Country by Alexander Chee
The Long Answer by Yann Mounir Demange
An American, Told by Jean Hannah Edelstein
On Being Kim Kardashian by Chimene Suleyman
Tour Diary by Basim Usmani
Dispatches from the Language Wars by Daniel Jose Older
Juana Azurduy Versus Christopher Columbus by Adrian and Sebastian Villar Rojas
No Es Suficiente by Dani Fernandez
Skittles by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Return to Macondo by Susanne Ramirez de Arellano
244 Million by Mona Chalabi
How to Center Your Own Story by Jade Chang

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