Enter to win 'Brown Album: Essays on Exile and Identity' by Porochista Khakpour
A little thank you for being a Foreign Bodies subscriber
Foreign Bodies fam, I’m so very excited to announce a new book giveaway for acclaimed novelist Porochista Khakpour’s Brown Album: Essays on Exile and Identity, a poignant collection chronicling immigrant and Iranian-American life as fear of the Middle East grew after the tragedy of 9/11 and again with the election of Donald Trump. We’ll be mailing one lucky subscriber or gift recipient a new copy of the collection with a message from Porochista herself. Entries accepted through Friday, July 10 at 8 p.m. EST.
PSA: This giveaway is only open to paying subscribers or comps (gifted subscriptions). If you’re interested in subscribing but haven’t yet—click here!
About the book
Brown Album: Essays on Exile and Identity draws on Iranian-American novelist Porochista Khakpour’s personal experience growing up in Los Angeles after her family fled the Iranian Revolution and then, eventually, on the East Coast, where she finds her fellow fringe-thinkers and writers.
Khakpour writes about watching the tragedy of 9/11 from her apartment window and grappling with America’s rising fear of the Middle East in the aftermath of 9/11 and now, in our contemporary moment under President Donald Trump.
“I loved this country,” she writes. “I accepted it and never, until much later, considered that it might not accept me.”
Some of my favorite pieces in this collection involve Khakpour’s self-criticism, her own examination of how she may have been complicit about Iranians both in her Los Angeles community and those at home in Iran.
Praise for Brown Album
“Brilliant…. What I love most about Porochista Khakpour’s writing is her voice: always direct, always passionate, always clear and brave, full of compassion and vulnerability, always open to the world. Brown Album is both a manifesto of survival and a lyric journey.”
—Ilya Kaminsky, author of Deaf Republic and Dancing in Odessa“Confusing, exhilarating, terrifying, sad, scary, magical…. This book was balm to my Turkish-American soul, and to my cosmopolitan-writer-beyond-nationalism soul. Every page is overflowing with verve and insight and hilarity and brilliance and sadness and historical and cultural specificity. Porochista Khakpour is a treasure.”
—Elif Batuman, author of The Idiot
For when you’re all done…
About Foreign Bodies giveaways
Whenever I read a book I enjoy or one that encourages me to challenge my own beliefs, I’m driven to give everyone around me a sprinkle of the magic. That means you, too. These little surprise giveaways are my special way of thanking you for joining the Foreign Bodies family. I hope the books and collections I send your way make you feel a little more at home, or perhaps inspire you to learn a bit more about the myriad voices out there, voices we don’t get the privilege of hearing as often as we could.
Giveaway rules
Entrants must be paying subscribers or comps (gift recipients) of the Foreign Bodies Newsletter and must have a valid U.S. mailing address. You may only enter once and must use the email address affiliated with your account. Each entry will be assigned a number and winner(s) will be chosen using the Random Integer Generator. Winner(s) will be notified via email and your gift will come personally packaged in the mail.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please email 4nbodies@gmail.com.
Recommend a book!
Have a favorite immigrant-written book, collection of essays or poetry or what-have-you? Stories that made you feel understood? Stories about immigrant or refugee experiences, about mental illness? Send your recommendations—especially if it’s your own work. And check out the wealth of books and essays we already have up on foreignbodies.net!
Are you an author?
Want your book or collection to be part of a Foreign Bodies giveaway? Just fill out this form and we’ll be in touch as soon as a giveaway slot opens.
Love,
Fiza
yes!!!!!!