American Dervish

American Dervish is a brilliantly written, nuanced, and emotionally forceful look inside the interplay of religion and modern life.Hayat Shah is a young American in love for the first time His normal life of school, baseball, and video games had previously been distinguished only by his Pakistani heritage and by the frequent chill between his parents, who fight over things he is too young to understand Then Mina arrives, and everything changes.Mina is Hayat s mother s oldest friend from Pakistan She is independent, beautiful and intelligent, and arrives on the Shah s doorstep when her disastrous marriage in Pakistan disintegrates Even Hayat s skeptical father can t deny the liveliness and happiness that accompanies Mina into their home Her deep spirituality brings the family s Muslim faith to life in a way that resonates with Hayat as nothing has before Studying the Quran by Mina s side and basking in the glow of her attention, he feels an entirely new purpose mingled with a growing infatuation for his teacher.When Mina meets and begins dating a man, Hayat is confused by his feelings of betrayal His growing passions, both spiritual and romantic, force him to question all that he has come to believe is true Just as Mina finds happiness, Hayat is compelled to act with devastating consequences for all those he loves most American Dervish is a brilliantly written, nuanced, and emotionally forceful look inside the interplay of religion and modern life Ayad Akhtar was raised in the Midwest himself, and through Hayat Shah he shows readers vividly the powerful forces at work on young men and women growing up Muslim in America This is an intimate, personal first novel that will stay with readers long after they turn the last page. Download American Dervish Author Ayad Akhtar – kino-fada.fr Audiobook.read by the author Ayad Akhtar..Ayad Akhtar was a natural as narrator for his own novel He was Excellent I was quickly drawn into this story when at the beginning Hayat Shah, the son of Pakistani Muslim parents living on the outskirts of Milwaukee, orders a beef hot dog at a baseball game By mistake it s a pork hot dog It s Hayat s first time ever eating pork He experiences an euphoric high religious freedom I knew just how he felt I had never eaten a cheeseburger in my Audiobook.read by the author Ayad Akhtar..Ayad Akhtar was...After reading some rave reviews, I was looking forward to getting my hands on this debut novel Having read it, what I m reminded of is that it is the book BUSINESS.Here s what I like about the book it s visually provocative the author has a film background it s a quick and somewhat entertaining read there are a few be...American Dervish Ayad Akhtar s book is a witty, humorous, educational, sensual and spiritual, insightful, captivating and riveting tale of a young child growing up in the Midwest in the early eighties The author beautifully and painstakingly narrates the impressions of a child as he struggles to understand the complexity of Islam and thus his own identity, through the controversial messages from many well meaning people in his life It points to the biases bred through cultural and historical American Dervish Ayad Akhtar s book is a witty, humorous, educational, sensual and spiritual, insightful, captivating and riveting tale of a young child growing up in the Midwest in the early eighties The author beautifully and painstakingly narrates the impressions of a child as he struggles to understand the complexity o...Ayad Akhtar s American Dervish is one of the most moving books I ve read in a long time I won this book in a giveaway on Goodreads, and I m glad I did, because I might not have picked up this book otherwise, and then would have missed out on a most enjoyable read.This book grabbed me from the start and never let me go Its characters are multi dimensional and believably flawed, and the writing is exquisite For example, the passages where the author describes Hayat s who is actually tel...This is definitely a fast read It s not the kind of book you want to linger over or revisit with any eagerness But that s not the reason I give it such a low rating Interesting, compelling books add to the story of stories They appear fresh Offer us something new And, while it is true that every story tells us a tale we ve already heard in one form or another, the good ones do it in a way which surprises the reader This book, American Dervish, rehashes the old in a connect the dots, This is definitely a fast read It s not the kind of book you want to linger over or revisit with any eagerness But that s not the reason I give it such a low rating Interesting, compelling books add to the story of stories Th...This is what life does to us, It grinds us Grinds us to dust Low against the horizon, billows of slow moving dark blue clouds drifted, pregnant with rain It was a picture of power and grace, and it filled me with quiet wonder.All at once, I felt a swell of gratitude Gratitude for whatI wondered.I remembered the afternoon of the ice cream social when Mina first taught me to listen to a still, small voice inside, hidden between and beneath the breath.I breathed in deeply and exhaled This is what life does to us, It grinds us Grinds us to dust Low against the horizon, billows of sl...Before I started this book I saw an interview with Ayad Akhtar on the Tavis Smiley Show which framed my reading and enjoyment of the novel was charmed and intrigued by Akhtar and especially interested when he talked about this being a novel about faith in America He said that he thought that faith was an essential element in this country and this novel uses the Muslim faith as a way to explore that It s not so much a book about being Muslim in America Before I started this book I saw an interview with Ayad Akhtar on the Tavis Smiley Show which framed my reading and enjoyment of the novel was charmed and intrigued by Akhtar and especially interested when he talked about this being a novel about faith in America He said that he thought that faith was an essential element in this country and this novel uses the Muslim faith as a way to explore that It s not so much a book about being Muslim in America as it is a story about growing up and what it means to believe in God, understand the afterlife and also what it means to follow the practices of the faith into which you are born, either by following or rejecting the teaching s of your parents and one boy s journey through that The main character, the ten year old boy Hayat, is first really introduced to the Muslim faith when his aunt Mina comes to live with his family from Pakistan Mina is what we might refer to as a spiritual Muslim she is quite devout but she places greater importance on the intention of faith than the ac...Round up my review of 1.5 stars to 2 I guess This was a hard book for me to get through When I was given the galley at Book Expo I was told that it was the next Kite Runner I should ve known better when anyone says a book is the next anything I really wanted to enjoy this as I feel stories from Asia in general are under represented in the U.S and am sure that Mi...More like 1.5 stars.I felt excited to read this book after hearing the author being interviewed on NPR s Fresh Air On air, he sounded unsure of himself and, at the same time, very opinionated a combination I really like for reasons I won t go into here Akhtar s bio is intriguingIvy educated, actor, playwright and student of Sufi masters Sadly, his novel is disappointing compared to his punditry I bet, though, he d write fabulous essays.American Dervish is a good, quick read but it More like 1.5 stars.I felt excited to read this book after hearing the author being interviewed on NPR s Fresh Air On air, he sounded unsure of himself and, at the same time, very opinionated a combination I really like for reasons I won t go into here Akhtar s b...I enjoyed this book and read in in a day I found the book very interesting and especially well written in describing the multi faceted joys and challenges growing up in an immigrant commmunity.The author s character developement as to the dilemnas and issues of personal psychological and cultural identity was amazing My family has a particular interest in the American Islamic community.My ex husband and I converted to Islam nearly 40 years I was a Muslim for 15 years My grown daughter has I enjoyed this book and read in in a day I found the book very interesting and especially well written in describing the multi faceted joys and challenges growing up in an immigrant commmunity.The author s character developement as to the dilemnas and issues of personal psychological and cultural...

• English
• 06 March 2018
Ayad Akhtar
• Hardcover
• 368 pages
• 0316183318
• Ayad Akhtar
• American Dervish