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A review by allieeveryday
Him, Me, Muhammad Ali by Randa Jarrar
3.0
Collection of short stories by an Arab-American author. It took me a while to get into it, because I struggled to find a through-line in the introductory stories. The collection is broken into three parts, and I couldn't really figure out why; in my opinion, Part 3 was the strongest and most cohesive.
To me, the best stories were:
Lost in Freakin' Yonkers - snapshots during the pregnancy of teen girl whose family disowns her for keeping the baby and not marrying the father.
Grace - ohhhhh but it so creeped me out - about a child who is kidnapped from the grocery store, and raised in a commune
Him, Me, Muhammad Ali - a young woman goes back to Egypt after her father's death in an attempt to fulfill his wish of having his ashes scattered in his home country. I thought the device of the title with this one was clever.
The Story of My Building - about the social gatherings of the men and women in one boy's family, and how the children entertain themselves, and what happens when the building is bombed.
The Life, Loves and Adventures of Zelwa the Halfie - about a woman who is half ibex, whose father wants her to have surgery to become fully human, and the discovery of family secrets
I have other books by Jarrar on my TBR list, and I'm looking forward to seeing if maybe I connect better overall with some of her other writing.
To me, the best stories were:
Lost in Freakin' Yonkers - snapshots during the pregnancy of teen girl whose family disowns her for keeping the baby and not marrying the father.
Grace - ohhhhh but it so creeped me out - about a child who is kidnapped from the grocery store, and raised in a commune
Him, Me, Muhammad Ali - a young woman goes back to Egypt after her father's death in an attempt to fulfill his wish of having his ashes scattered in his home country. I thought the device of the title with this one was clever.
The Story of My Building - about the social gatherings of the men and women in one boy's family, and how the children entertain themselves, and what happens when the building is bombed.
The Life, Loves and Adventures of Zelwa the Halfie - about a woman who is half ibex, whose father wants her to have surgery to become fully human, and the discovery of family secrets
I have other books by Jarrar on my TBR list, and I'm looking forward to seeing if maybe I connect better overall with some of her other writing.