How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America

by Moustafa Bayoumi

Book Overview

"Bayoumi offers a revealing portrait of life for people who are often scrutinized but seldom heard from." --Booklist (starred review)

"Wholly intelligent and sensitively-drawn, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? is an important investigation into the hearts and minds of young Arab-Americans. This significant and eminently readable work breaks through preconceptions and delivers a fresh take on a unique and vital community...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143115413
• ISBN13: 9780143115410
• Release Date: July 2009
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

The Grind of a good book

This book is maybe inspirational and yet shows the strife and struggle of Arab and Muslim Americans and immigrants who are just like us around about 9/11, before it, and until recently. The stories of 7 young Arab americans is vivid and tell what the prejudice of America has done to their lives not only making them stronger day by day but be proud of their origin and not ashamed. A great read! I had to read this for freshman year, im glad they made us read it.

Highly recommended

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.

!!!

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

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

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.