
The Other Americans
A Novel
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By:
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Laila Lalami
Finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction
Finalist for the Kirkus Prize in Fiction
Winner of the Arab American Book Award in Fiction
Named a Best Book of the Year by Time, the Washington Post, BookPage, NPR, the Guardian, Variety, New York Public Library, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Dallas Morning News, and Kirkus Reviews.
From the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Moor’s Account, here is a timely and powerful novel about the suspicious death of a Moroccan immigrant—at once a family saga, a murder mystery, and a love story, informed by the treacherous fault lines of American culture.
Late one spring night, Driss Guerraoui, a Moroccan immigrant living in California, is walking across a darkened intersection when he is killed by a speeding car. The repercussions of his death bring together a diverse cast of characters: Guerraoui’s daughter Nora, a jazz composer who returns to the small town in the Mojave she thought she'd left for good; his widow, Maryam, who still pines after her life in the old country; Efraín, an undocumented witness whose fear of deportation prevents him from coming forward; Jeremy, an old friend of Nora's and an Iraq War veteran; Coleman, a detective who is slowly discovering her son's secrets; Anderson, a neighbor trying to reconnect with his family; and the murdered man himself.
As the characters—deeply divided by race, religion, and class—tell their stories, connections among them emerge, even as Driss’s family confronts its secrets, a town faces its hypocrisies, and love, messy and unpredictable, is born.
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Critic reviews
***2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST***
One of Time Magazine's Best Fiction of 2019
Named a Most Anticipated Book for 2019: Entertainment Weekly, The Boston Globe, New York Magazine/Vulture, The Millions, Bustle, Electric Literature, Nylon, HuffPost, BookPage, The BBC, and Buzzfeed
"Powerful . . . Fascinating . . . Heartbreaking . . . It matters desperately . . . The novel opens into a collective confessional . . . At the core of The Other Americans is a deep anxiety: What if the truth is contradictory or so obfuscated that we lose the will to pursue it? For the reader, the novel presents something of a Rorschach test. Will our belief and sympathy depend on the speaker’s racial or gender identity, or perhaps his or her age?" —The New York Times Book Review
"'Other Americans take center stage in a timely new novel . . . You feel like the promise of America can still come through after all."—Fresh Air, Maureen Corrigan
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In a time when empathy is running low, this book is a must-read.
Everyone is getting this book for Christmas
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I loved Lalami's voice. Her matter-of-fact descriptions set an amazing tone that reminded me of Steinbeck, earnest and heartfelt. The structure felt authentic. Bouncing between characters to set a rounded view of the world seemed the right choice. There is a major "but" coming, though.
I felt like she went the contrived route. I foresaw the ending early on, so the mystery portion of the text fell short. On top of that, I felt like her glimpses into the lives of all these characters wasn't full enough. They all felt flat with a tiny stick of internal conflict propping them up. The types of conflict included held a lot of promise, but she never satisfied my hunger for exploration or resolution (which is where a lot of my mixed feelings derive from: is life ever satisfying?).
Overall, I enjoyed the read, but it isn't one I would list as one of my favorite reads.
My next novels (yeah, I'm doing two) are: Erotic Stories for Junjabi Widows and Exhalation.
Beautiful writing, but a bit shallow.
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But with all that criticism, I am glad I listened to this book. I suspect Ill think of it time and again as I watch the news and reflect on the world as it is.
An Immigration Story
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Easy to listen to and follow.
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Undermined by poor narration
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Engaging story; well performed.
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Perfect story. Great story. Wonderfully written.
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Enjoyable read
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In most books, writers are able to flesh out one or two main characters, while the others, supporting characters, are just sketched. Laila Lalami has built individual characters of amazing complexity, very delicately and humanely crafted, people that reveal themselves to us as the story advances. We get a certain impression of a character based on descriptions from others, only to be astonished when we hear the inner dialogue of that particular character.
In all stories, there is an inner speed and it is difficult to maintain the same story speed across multiple story lines, but Ms. Lalami succeeded beautifully, the story is never boring or stalling.
The readers are excellently cast, their voices clear and very well suited to the characters they embody.
A tour de force all around.
A beautiful book, masterfully produced.
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Very well narrated . All voices and performances were well done.
Engaging
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