Overview

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 is now an unaffordable place to live? Or Pakistan, the country his parents left behind a half-century ago? Growing up living the suburban 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, but 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.

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9780393867978

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Reviews

Wajahat Ali's deeply personal and keenly perceptive memoir is a clear-eyed account of his American immigrant experience.... We are all fortunate to be on the receiving end of not only his intellect, but his humanity and heart. -- Katie Couric, Emmy Award-winning journalist This is the book I've been hoping Wajahat Ali would write for ten years-hilarious, stylistically fearless, deeply humane. -- Dave Eggers, author of The Every Wajahat Ali has already proven that he is the fastest mind on TV. Now his fans can sample his brilliance on the page. -- Ishmael Reed, author of The Terrible Fours This book is a tour de force-equal parts tragedy and laugh-out-loud comedy. With brazen wit, rigorous analysis, and searing insight, Wajahat Ali speaks to the first-generation American's dilemma of being both 'us' and 'them.' -- Suleika Jaouad, author of Between Two Kingdoms A hilarious and heartwarming treatise on what it truly means to be American in the twenty-first century. You'll be laughing so hard you won't even notice the inevitable Islamic takeover of America! Oops, I've said too much. -- Reza Aslan, author of God: A Human History Wajahat Ali brilliantly and lovingly unpacks the complicated history and urgent lived experience of being otherized in America.... [A] rich feast for all the senses-a must-read. -- S. E. Cupp, author of Losing Our Religion This powerful and moving book is, at its heart, a love story. The beloved, flawed and tragic -- so flawed, so tragic -- is America. The lover's hope is always undermined. And yet his hope somehow endures. -- Mohsin Hamid, author of Exit West

Wajahat Ali's deeply personal and keenly perceptive memoir is a clear-eyed account of his American immigrant experience-an experience that is both unique and universal. We are all fortunate to be on the receiving end of not only his intellect, but his humanity and heart. -- Katie Couric, Emmy Award-winning journalist This is the book I've been hoping Wajahat Ali would write for ten years-hilarious, stylistically fearless, deeply humane. -- Dave Eggers, author of The Every Wajahat Ali writes with effervescent verve, an easy wit, and a bracing moral clarity. This book made me laugh out loud, tear up, giggle, google recipes for Pakistani food, and think long and hard about what it means to be an American. Easily the most enjoyable book I've read in years. -- journalist Julia Ioffe Ali brilliantly and lovingly unpacks the complicated history and urgent lived experience of being otherized in America. At once a tragedy and comedy . . . a must-read. -- S. E. Cupp, author of Losing Our Religion and coauthor of Why You're Wrong About the Right A tender knife-sharp analysis of racism . . . personal, painful, familial, and global -- Juan Felipe Herrera, United States Poet Laureate Emeritus This book is-appropriately enough-Wajahat in book form: smart, hilarious, very into food, and deeply empathetic. He's the very best of America, and this book can help you be too. -- Franklin Leonard, founder of The Blacklist Reveals the pain of loving a nation that doesn't always love you back. -- Laila Lalami, author of Conditional Citizens Timely and engrossing, balancing sharp satire and deep empathy, Wajahat Ali's brilliant, hilarious, and eye-opening book will make any reader want to come to his block party. -- Sunny Hostin, author of I Am These Truths A hilarious and heartwarming treatise on what it truly means to be American in the twenty-first century. You'll be laughing so hard you won't even notice the inevitable Islamic takeover of America! Oops, I've said too much. -- Reza Aslan, author of God: A Human History Full of wisdom and compassion, not to mention Ali's signature humor. As educational as it is entertaining. I wish my nine-year-old immigrant self had this book when the playground kids were telling me to go back where I came from. -- Gary Shteyngart, author of Our Country Friends In prose at times hilarious and at other times deeply moving, Wajahat Ali chronicles a uniquely American experience. All will benefit from reading his story. -- Representative Ilhan Omar Raw, funny, honest, and most important, all-American -- Kim Ghattas, author of Black Wave Ali mines the sheer comedic potential of being brown and Muslim in America and dissects the dynamics of bigotry in all its aspects, including Islamophobia and white nationalism. He captures the tragic realities of life in America, and lauds its potential wonders. -- Carla Blank, author and editor (with the Before Columbus Foundation) of Rediscovering America

Author Information

Wajahat Ali is a New York Times-contributing writer, recovering attorney, and tired dad. His work has appeared in the Atlantic, New York Review of Books, and other outlets. He lives in Washington, DC.

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