Call me American : a memoir

Iftin, Abdi Nor (author.). Alexander, Max, 1957- (author.).

Summary: Abdi Nor Iftin first fell in love with America from afar. As a child, he learned English by listening to American pop artists like Michael Jackson and watching films starring action heroes like Arnold Schwarzenegger. When U.S. marines landed in Mogadishu to take on the warlords, Abdi cheered the arrival of these real Americans, who seemed as heroic as those of the movies. Sporting American clothes and dance moves, he became known around Mogadishu as Abdi American, but when the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab rose to power in 2006, it suddenly became dangerous to celebrate Western culture. Desperate to make a living, Abdi used his language skills to post secret dispatches to NPR and the Internet, which found an audience of worldwide listeners. But as life in Somalia grew more dangerous, Abdi was left with no choice but to flee to Kenya as a refugee. In an amazing stroke of luck, Abdi won entrance to the U.S. in the annual visa lottery, though his route to America was filled with twists and turns and a harrowing sequence of events that nearly stranded him in Nairobi. Now a proud resident of Maine and on the path to citizenship, Abdi Nor Iftin's dramatic, deeply stirring memoir is truly a story for our time: a vivid reminder of why western democracies still beckon to those looking to make a better life.

Item details

ISBN: 9781524732196
ISBN: 1524732192
ISBN: 9780525433026
ISBN: 0525433023
ISBN: 9781524732202
Physical Description: print
310 pages ; 22 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2018.
Copyright: ©2018

Contents / Notes

General Note:	"This is a Borzoi Book."
Formatted Contents Note:	Under the neem tree -- The first bullets -- Trail of thorns -- City of women and children -- Arabic to English -- The one they call American -- Buufis -- Wedding vows -- Sin and punishment -- Trapped -- No number -- Messages from Mogadishu -- Little Mogadishu -- Long odds -- White rooms -- Respect -- Epilogue.

Find similar items by subject

Subject:

Iftin, Abdi Nor
Iftin, Abdi Nor
Somali Americans Maine Biography
Immigrants Maine Biography
Muslims Maine Biography
Somali Americans Maine Biography
Muslims Maine Biography
Immigrants Maine Biography
Immigrants
Muslims
Somali Americans
Maine
Immigrants Maine Biography
Muslims Maine Biography
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Cultural, Ethnic & Regional
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Emigration & Immigration

Genre:

Autobiographies.
Autobiographies.
Biography.

Currently available copies

12 out of 12 copies are currently available at PINES. (Show)
2 out of 2 copies are currently available at Flint River Regional Library System. (Show)
1 out of 1 copy are currently available at Peachtree City Library.