How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America | 
 enlarge | Author: Moustafa Bayoumi
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 73684
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 1594201765
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.8927073
EAN: 9781594201769
ASIN: 1594201765
Publication Date: August 14, 2008
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Condition: New Book. Fast Shipping. May have small remainder mark.
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Product Description
The story of how young Arab and Muslim Americans are forging lives for themselves in a country that often mistakes them for the enemy
Arab and Muslim Americans are the new, largely undiscussed problem of American society, their lives no better understood than those of African Americans a century ago. Under the cover of the terrorist attacks, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the explosion of political violence around the world, a fundamental misunderstanding of the Arab and Muslim American communities has been allowed to fester and even to define the lives of the seven twentysomething men and women whom we meet in this book. Their names are Rami, Sami, Akram, Lina, Yasmin, Omar, and Rasha, and they all live in Brooklyn, New York, which is home to the largest number of Arab Americans in the United States.
We meet Sami, an Arab American Christian, who navigates the minefield of associations the public has of Arabs as well as the expectations that Muslim Arab Americans have of him as a marine who fought in the Iraq war. And Rasha, who, along with her parents, sister, and brothers, was detained by the FBI in a New Jersey jail in early 2002. Without explanation, she and her family were released several months later. As drama of all kinds swirls around them, these young men and women strive for the very things the majority of young adults desire: opportunity, marriage, happiness, and the chance to fulfill their potential. But what they have now are lives that are less certain, and more difficult, than they ever could have imagined: workplace discrimination, warfare in their countries of origin, government surveillance, the disappearance of friends or family, threats of vigilante violence, and a host of other problems that thrive in the age of terror.
And yet How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? takes the raw material of their struggle and weaves it into an unforgettable, and very American, story of promise and hope. In prose that is at once blunt and lyrical, Moustafa Bayoumi allows us to see the world as these men and women do, revealing a set of characters and a place that indelibly change the way we see the turbulent past and yet still hopeful future of this country.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
Fantastic book to use in classrooms! October 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a fantastic book to use in college classrooms. I had great success teaching it to three of my classes! The students related to the 20-something characters. The writing is just beautiful! Not only is it a presentation of Arab American lives, but a lovely ode to Brooklyn. I highly recommend the author's website to keep updated on his latest events. He's a fantastic reader and left an impact on my students who went to see him live: [...]
Highly recommended October 12, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
By taking us inside the lives and minds of young Arab Americans living in Brooklyn, a microcosm of the diverse United States, Bayoumi helps us understand what it means to be young and arab in America today. The short stories covering seven different personalities make the narrative very accessible and the book an easy read. The characters themselves are extremely diverse affording the reader a good coverage of different strata of the Arab American society. From a religious young girl in veil fighting against discrimination, to a marine, a patriotic American fighting in Iraq torn between the Arab and American cultures, to a young grocery store worker inspired by the American dream... each story is unique and heart filled.
!!! October 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As Americans become more engrossed in our current political stresses, a book like this seems more timely everyday. And in our post-9/11 society, I think it is becoming so important to be aware of how Arab Americans are being used as scapegoats and discriminated against in a way that seems acceptable to many Americans.
I felt that Bayoumi did such a good job of connecting the modes of past prejudices to our contemporary situation, driving home the point that this country is far from over racism. The stories of the people whom the author follows are at points touching, and nothing makes a stronger example than the lives of actual people.
An Illuminating and Necessary Read October 3, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
What Moustafa Bayoumi captures in his latest work is what many have been yearning for since 9/11 in the Arab American community: an encapsulation and presentation of the voice of the unheard. Too often, our history--even as it unfolds--is told by our neighbors, by our news stations, and by those who seek us harm for perceived personal or communal benefit.
I believe the concept of this book is as important as what fills its pages. Shedding light on the lives of the castigated, Bayoumi engages the outside world with human stories seen through a human lens. Bayoumi masterfully graces the page with a rich and unique style of description, making this read not only intense, but enjoyable.
I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking understanding into the mindset of many Arab Americans today.
Insightful, richly told stories October 3, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
As someone who has worked almost 10 years with young Arab-Americans, I found this to be a very insightful glimpse into the lives of a little understood community. So many people talk about young Arab-Americans - a population often described as a "homegrown threat" or somehow radical - yet how often do we hear what they think, in their own words?
In this book, Bayoumi is granted unique access into the lives of these young people, allowing him to tell each story colorfully and to share their most innermost feelings. The internal conflicts they experience as Arabs and Americans are instructive, as they reflect the greatest political and cultural challenges facing our world today.
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