Go Back to Where You Came From

August 1, 2021

Having grown up an awkward outsider in the San Francisco Bay Area, Daily Beast columnist Ali became a writer to challenge stereotypes and portray the Muslim American world as he knew it. His activism intensified post-9/11 as he was constantly told "Go back to where you came from." His acid-wit response--what, go back to the Bay Area, where the rents are unaffordable?--reveals his approach to such provocations.

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2021
A Pakistani American journalist, playwright, and activist uses his personal history as a tool to analyze how America's relationship with Muslims, immigrants, and people of color has developed since the 1980s. Born to Pakistani parents, Ali grew up in a loving, multigenerational Muslim home in the Bay Area. The author's idyllic life abruptly shifted when he was in college because of two earth-shattering events. The first was 9/11, which instantly transformed him into "an accidental activist, a global representative of 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide and a walking Wikipedia of 1,400 years of all things Islam." During this time, Ali and his fellow Muslim Student Association board members organized a series of events designed to combat Islamophobia on campus--events that, unwittingly, kick-started Ali's career in media. Soon after, Ali's family suffered a more personal tragedy when his parents were incarcerated for their alleged role in a wire and mail fraud scheme--though they "had nothing to do with the piracy ring itself." Ali credits the following two decades of struggle for his family's politicization and his eventual career as a successful playwright and essayist focused on writing a new story for his unfairly maligned community. The author's views on racism and Islamophobia are deeply researched, nuanced, and clear, and he is adept at weaving these ideas into his life story organically and without pretense. His conversational voice renders even the most complex concepts a pleasure to read. The only exception is the set of chapters on his family's incarceration. Tonally, these read quite differently than the rest of the book, perhaps due to the highly emotional nature of the material. While Ali structures the chapters as a series of tips about how to be American, what truly unifies his story is his vulnerability in sharing some of the most intimate and painful moments of his life. A Pakistani American memoir that shines with passion, intelligence, and humor.

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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.

January 1, 2022

Ali, a lawyer, columnist, and playwright (The Domestic Crusaders), discusses his childhood in the Bay Area as the son of Muslim immigrants from Pakistan. He initially presents the book as a tongue-in-cheek instructional manual for achieving the "Amreekan dream." Ali's father, Zulfiqar, arrived in San Francisco from Karachi in the 1960s; here Ali notes that Muslim immigrants from the Indian subcontinent are often assumed to be Arab, and he explains that this lack of cultural understanding with regard to the South Asian diaspora has persisted in the U.S. since the time of his father's arrival. His family settled in Fremont, CA, in the 1980s, where Ali came of age. He was a college student at Berkeley during 9/11, when the subsequent backlash against Muslim Americans spurred him to campus activism. Ali's tone--witty and self-deprecating, with a canny instinct for comedic timing--becomes incisive when he discusses the scapegoating of his Pakistani community and other Muslims. He is more guarded when relaying his parents' legal troubles, after they were accused of wire fraud. Ali writes that their plight disrupted his college years but also strengthened his resolve to find creative ways to advocate for Muslim Americans. VERDICT A compassionate and insightful memoir full of hope and humor; recommended for all collections.--Barrie Olmstead

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