The Other Americans

This was an excellent book . One of my rare 5 star reviews. I do find it interesting that the comments by 2-3 star reviewers and I see their criticisms being more about the multi-narrator style than about the issues the author raises. The story surrounds the hit and run death of a 61 year old Moroccan diner owner in a desert town in the Mojave desert. We see the aftermath as the family and those involved in the accident tell the story from their different points of view. I enjoyed that Lalami touched on so many issues of the changes that are going on in our country. She deals with veterans of the Iraqi war, sibling issues, mother-daughter, father-daughter, coming back to your home town, reconnecting with children from your growing up. show more It adds up to a brilliant portrayal of real people who live real lives in our country. Although there were many narrators, they all were important to advancing the story. I sometimes find that one or two voices in a story with many significant characters tends to narrow the story to the viewpoint of a single or two narrators. In this book Lalami had 2 lead characters and did a good job of their character development. She gave us enough insight into the other characters based on their contribution to the story. Anytime an author creates an ambitious agenda that touches on many themes and issues, she leaves herself open to criticism. For me this book worked on all counts. I will certainly look into her other books. show less

My father was killed on a spring night four years ago, while I sat in the corner booth of a new bistro in Oakland. Whenever I think about that moment, those two contradictory images come to me: my father struggling for breath on the cracked asphalt, and me drinking champagne with my roommate, Margo.

Driss Guerraoui is already dead when the book opens: his body tossed into a ditch by a hit-and-run driver as he leaves his restaurant, yet his voice contributes to the story, trying to set the record straight when the memories of the living are inaccurate or incomplete.

After fleeing political danger in Casablanca with his wife and young daughter, Driss tried to realize the American dream. He built a business in the Mojave Desert, purchased a show more home, raised two educated daughters, but he would always be one of the "other Americans," especially after 9/11, when the color of his skin and the religion of his ancestors made him a target.

The main voice of the novel is Nora, Driss's younger daughter, a struggling musical composer. Her father was always her biggest supporter and his death leaves her feeling adrift, especially as she feels her mother and sister are leaving her out of decisions, conspiring as they judge her for her impractical life, "Not all of us can be like you, with your head in the clouds."

Driss's widow, Maryam, often unhappy in her marriage, has a smaller part. Their older daughter, Salma, a married dentist who always lived up to her mother's expectations, is heard in only one chapter, but it's a powerful one. Other voices -- an illegal immigrant who was the only witness, the detective investigating the hit-and-run, a police officer who grew up with Nora, the owner of the bowling alley next door and his son (another of Nora's former classmates) -- also contribute to the chorus, as the ripple effects of Driss's death change the course of multiple lives.

Ms. Lalami's characters are complex and believable, coming to life on the page through their own words. The same events are often recounted from multiple perspectives, but the results are never repetitive. While the mystery of Driss's death provides the backbone for the plot, the novel is equal parts family drama and love story, an exploration of loss and otherness. show less

On the surface, The Other Americans is a murder mystery. But the mystery is there mainly to provide a structure on which to investigate racism is all its guises.

Driss Guerraoui, a Moroccan immigrant to a California town in the Mojave Desert, is struck and killed by a vehicle while crossing the street one night. The vehicle leaves the scene without stopping. The family cannot accept it as simply an accident, and the main character, Nora, goes about trying to find the killer. The family has been in town for 20 years, but they have all experienced being outsiders, "rag heads," especially after 9/11.

And they are not the only "other" Americans. There is Efraim, a Mexican in the country illegally, who witnesses the hit-and-run but is afraid show more to come forward lest the spotlight be turned on him. And Coleman the detective, who we find out late in the novel is African American. And the Chinese woman in Irvine who accuses A.J. Baker of killing her dog while he is in Baker's doggie daycare, causing him to lose his business. Jeremy, a Polish American Iraqi war vet and policeman, falls for Nora, who he knew in high school and liked even then. But even his friend Fierro cannot resist labeling Nora out of jealousy for Jeremy's good fortune in finding her, while he, Fierro, is going through a divorce.

Phew! There's a lot going on here! At one point I thought there were too many extraneous characters, but they all played their role in the story, even if they disappeared before the end. I'm thinking of Efraim and Fierro.

Although the focus is on racism, Lalami imbues all the characters with depth and humanity. Whether they are on the giving or receiving end of racial epithets, we are shown both their good and bad sides, the explanations for what made them the way they are, which is a very good thing, which, I think, is a very good thing, especially in our divisive times. show less

The Other Americans by Laila Lalami is a superlative expose of widespread racism brilliantly injected into a hit and run mystery. Told from the view point of delectable and repulsive set of characters, Laila shows us a brittle Americana fabric that is searching for answers. Loneliness, love, immigration and the definition of home percolate this gorgeous novel. The metaphors come fast and furious.

Like a Place for Us meets a murder mystery. Nora Guerraoui is in her late 20s when her father dies suddenly in a hit and run accident outside his restaurant. He is a Moroccan immigrant in the US for close to 30 years. Nora was born there. The family has assimilated well to the CA desert town - on the surface - her parents run the restaurant, her older sister is a dentist, Nora is a Stanford graduate and composes music. But there are prejudices that surface after 9/11 when Nora is in grade school and linger to the present. There is cultural pressure and expectation to succeed and better the American Dream started by her parents and there is the expectation to uphold Muslim tradition in behavior and morality for the daughters. Nora comes show more home from Oakland for the funeral and gets sucked back into family roles and drama. She was close to her father, but clashes with her mother. She also meets up with an old high school friend, Jeremy Gorecki who is now a police officer - and she needs his help and support for the case of finding the driver who killed her father. This all gets laid out straightforward enough to start and seems pretty linear, but there are a lot of digressions in the middle and the case almost becomes an afterthought until all of a sudden it gets solved. Nora seems to have a bit of a chip on her shoulder about her place in the family and in society which gets a little tiresome. Good look at the challenges of immigrants - both legal and illegal, the tensions between country of origin and an adopted homeland, some thoughtful passages on grief, and complexity of family dynamics. I felt a little like this book didn't know what it wanted to be and ends up trying to do it all. Lots of topics get touched on, but it doesn't do them justice. show less

What's the term for a novel made up of chapters each told from a different character's point of view? Anyway, it's become so common that I figure there has to be a word for it, and Lalami's novel is a wonderful example of the genre. It tells the story of a Moroccan-American woman's coming to terms with her father's death, with her relationship to her Central Valley California home, family, and past, and with the assumptions about each of those that blind her to the reality the people in her life experience. Racism and anti-Muslim bias are themes, presented in ways that feel more authentic than the usual ripped from the headlines heavy-handedness. With all good fiction, it manages to transcend the things that make us different, to show more illuminate what's universal in lived experience. Well worth the read! show less

Told from multiple points of view, this novel revolves around Nora and her family, first and second generation immigrants living near Joshua Tree, California. After her father's death in a hit-and-run accident, Nora returns to her home town from San Francisco. Somewhat paralyzed by her grief, she grapples with the loss of her father and adjusting to her small community and family dynamics. Having just ended a relationship with a married man, she connects with a friend from high school who had always had a crush on her. The varied voices telling the story add depth and perspective as events unfold, and make for an engaging and thought-provoking novel.