"A sterling portrait of personal revelation, cuts to the bone."
– Publisher's Weekly (starred review) "The significance of Omer Aziz's
Brown Boy is captured in the very first story he tells–that tension between being caught between two worlds. When Derek Walcott writes, 'Where shall I turn, divided to the vein?, ' Aziz responds with
Brown Boy, a powerful articulation of what it means to navigate not just identities, but borders and possibility."
–Reginald Dwayne Betts, author of Felon "A brilliant and moving memoir of, among other things, class migration and the choices made by outsiders. Aziz writes with sensitivity and honesty about the tensions between growing up in a working class immigrant home and the worlds of elite education and politics. This book will surely make it onto any reading list exploring the twin preoccupations of our time: race and class."
– Zia Haider Rahman, author of In The Light of What We Know "Omer Aziz's astonishing journey from economic hardship and violence to Yale and becoming a foreign policy advisor would be fascinating even if it didn't tell us things we absolutely need to know: Why have the white and minority communities withdrawn into their separate corners; what can be done to bring them together? An essential memoir."
– Akhil Sharma, author of Family Life and An Obedient Father. "This breathtaking, brilliant memoir had me from page one–I couldn't put it down. Omer Aziz is a poet, his writing luminous.
Brown Boy is eye-opening, achingly honest, alternately hilarious and heartbreaking–an unforgettable book."
–Amy Chua, author of Political Tribes and Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother "
Brown Boy is a poignant, unflinching exploration of cultural identity: the roles we perform, the ways we are misperceived, and the conflicted feelings we can have about our pasts. Omer Aziz illuminates what it is like to be the child of immigrants and the unique invisibility that comes with being South Asian. I saw myself reflected in these pages. How rare, to encounter one's story with such candor and vulnerability. How rare, and how necessary."
–Maya Shanbhag Lang, author of What We Carry, a New York Times Editors' Choice