It is centered around the people living in the old house of the title, which used to be a place where dervishes gathered but is converted to affordable housing. American dervish by ayad akhtar i like characterdriven books, and i like books that explore culture clashes, so this was a winwin. Review of american dervish by ayad akhtar rhapsody in. Dervish massage coop is a group of independent holistic therapists who maintain a constant presence on the floor above the bookshop in dervish holistic centre. Dervish books holistic centre 7 aungier street dublin 2 sells a wide range of spiritual books, relaxation music cds, crystals, incense, resins and essential oils, with gifted holistic therapists, homeopaths and readers working from the therapy rooms. Ayad akhtars american dervish is one of the most moving books ive read in a long time. What a pleasure to encounter a first novel as selfassured and effortlessly told as ayad akhtars american dervish. The title, american dervish, needs some explication. This theme is overtly applied to both hayats character as well as his fathers. Ayad akhtar himself is an american born, firstgeneration pakistani american from milwaukee. Does this mean american dervish intends to condemn an entire faith. As such, theres an authenticity to his work that offers readers an open approach to islamic terms and allows for an inside look at muslim life in america prior to 911.
This is an intimate, personal first novel that looks at the interplay of religion and modern life akhtar was raised in the midwest, and through his characters, he shows readers vividly the powerful forces at work on young men and women growing up muslim in america. Not at all but akhtar is perfectly happy to expose its contradictions, and how easily it can be abused. Ayad akhtar is a screenwriter, playwright, actor, and novelist. The novel tells the story of a young pakistaniamerican boy growing up in the american midwest and his. The pakistani community there centers on two mena corrupt imam and ghaleb chatha, the businessman who funds the imams mosque. Akhtar seems also to be putting a modern muslim spin on earlier stories of jewish assimilation. Loss of identity in ayad akhtars american dervish science. American dervish is akhtars debut novel, which has been published. Akhtar, a firstgeneration pakistani american, has written an. The story in the dervish house is very fast paced, very compact it all takes place within five days and very clear, but has room for a lot of science fictional ideas. I won this book in a giveaway on goodreads, and im glad i did, because. The novel tells the story of a young pakistaniamerican boy growing up in the american midwest and his struggle with his identity and religion. Akhtar, himself a firstgeneration pakistaniamerican from milwaukee, perfectly balances a moving exploration of the understanding and serenity islam imparts to an unhappy preteen with an unsparing portrait of fundamentalist bigotry and cruelty, especially toward intelligent women like mina. Rob brunner, entertainment weekly what a pleasure to encounter a first novel as selfassured and effortlessly told as ayad akhtars american dervish.
Ayad akhtar is an americanborn, firstgeneration pakistaniamerican from milwaukee, wisconsin. Ayad akhtar on islam in america and his prescient drama. American dervish by ayad akhtar little, brown and company. My intention behind writing the book was to open a window on what it was like to grow up muslim in america.
When the beautiful and intelligent mina comes to live with them, hayats world is dramatically changed. American dervish offers a rich look at a nearby world that many americans dont know nearly enough about. What a pleasure to encounter a first novel as selfassured and effortlessly told as ayad akhtar s american dervish. Ayad akhtars wonderful first novel tells a quintessentially american comingofage story. Its not that 10yearold hayat shahs parents are happy in playwright ayad akhtars comingofage story set among pakistaniamerican immigrants in 1980s milwaukee. The author divides his novel into a prologue, four books, each book is. In 1980s milwaukee, he sees many different versions of that identity.
I found this debut novel by ayad akhtar to be a wonderful companion piece to the authors play disgraced. In both works, akhtar wrestles autobiographically with his evolving views of the muslim religion and of the pakistani culture into which he was born. Ayad akhtar on islam in america and his prescient drama, disgraced. His normal life of school, baseball, and video games had previously been distinguished only by his pakistani heritage and by the frequent chill between his parents, who fight over things he is too young to understand. From pulitzer prize winner ayad akhtar, a stirring and explosive debut novel.
This paper focuses on the concept of the loss of identity in ayad akhtars debut novel american dervish. Loss of innocencesexual, of course, but also cultural and religiousis the subject of ayad akhtars poignant american dervish, set in a muslimamerican community in the early 1980s. Hayat is the perfect observer in that role, with akhtars bright, fastpaced writing persuasively conveying a boys wideeyed shock at adult behavior. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone. Ayad akhtar makes a compelling debut with american dervish. His plays include disgraced, recipient of the 20 pulitzer prize for drama. Whether this message was akhtars original intention, or simply the way my views on religion have affected my reading of the novel, im not sure. But what is clear is that, in the end, hayat can only find peace as a nonbeliever. American dervish is a brilliantly written, nuanced, and emotionally forceful look inside the interplay of religion and modern life.
Do you think that one has to reject one identity in order to embrace another. Ayad akhtars acclaimed first novel american dervish will be adapted for the stage and will have its world premiere at milwaukee repertory theater. His normal life of school, baseball, and video games had previously been distinguished only by his pakistani heritage and by the. An alumnus of the graduate film program at colombia university, he is the author of numerous plays and screenplays. Ayad akhtar was raised in the midwest himself, and through hayat shah he shows readers vividly the powerful forces at work on young men and women growing up muslim in america. The novel explicates the inability of the muslim protagonist, hayat shah, to assimilate himself into community as far as he still holds on his remnant tenets he has inherited from his homeland pakistan.
In american dervish, akhtar slips easily inside the mind and body of a preadolescent and then adolescent boy. Ayad akhtar is a playwright, novelist, the winner of the pulitzer prize for drama, and an award in literature from the american academy of arts and letters. This debut novel features tenyearold hayat shah, a firstgeneration pakistani american, who is attempting to find his identity as a muslim. In his debut novel, ayad akhtar describes the coming of age of a young pakistani american in milwaukee in the 1980s.
Akhtar, himself a firstgeneration pakistani american from milwaukee, perfectly balances a moving exploration of the understanding and serenity islam imparts to an unhappy preteen with an unsparing portrait of fundamentalist bigotry and cruelty, especially toward intelligent women like mina. In ian mcewans novel atonement, a thirteenyearold girl in prewar england makes a terrible mistake. American dervish, by ayad akhtar the globe and mail. How does the books midwestern, muslimamerican, comingofage point of view inform your own understanding of what it is to be american. Hayat is a 12yearold pakistani american growing up in midwest america. American dervish 2012 ayad akhtar a novel approach. And despite all that goes on, american dervish doesnt strike me as an angry novel. Buy a cheap copy of american dervish book by ayad akhtar.
What makes american dervish so special is its accessibility. His normal life of school, baseball, and video games had previously been distinguished only by his. American dervish is the first novel from ayad akhtar, a pakistaniamerican screenwriter and actor. He is the author of the novel american dervish and was nominated for a 2006 independent spirit award for best screenplay for the film the war within. Ayad akhtar novel american dervish being adapted for the. The globe and mail spoke to akhtar a pakistaniamerican writer whose work includes the 2012 novel american dervish. American dervish is a fine contemporary comingofage. Rob brunner, entertainment weekly what a pleasure to encounter a first novel as selfassured and effortlessly told as ayad akhtar s american dervish. Indeed, mina is already so westernized that one of her favorite books is henry. Hayat shah is a young american in love for the first time. He was star and cowriter of the war within, which premiered at the 2005 toronto film festival and was released internationally. The child of immigrants struggles to find a place in. Ayad akhtars debut novel, american dervish, resembles a sufi invocation, a chopin nocturne or even the weight of silence experienced in a. In his new novel, american dervish, author ayad akhtar confronts the oftenoverlooked fact that islams views of.
Ayad akhtar wasnt expecting all the hype surrounding his second attempt, a novel about a pakistaniamerican boy growing up in wisconsin in the 1980s. His normal life of school, baseball, and video games had previously been distinguished only by his pakistani heritage and by the frequent chill between his parents, who fight over. Review of american dervish by ayad akhtar posted on 01122012 by rhapsodyinbooks hayat shah is just a fifth grader when he first meets his aunt mina, who has come with her son imran from pakistan to live with hayats family in milwaukee. Hayat shah is the only child of a lapsed fundamentalist father who cavorts with western women and a devout mother who suffersbut stays. And at a time when the seeds of so much of whats happening in the world today were. From pulitzer prize winner ayad akhtar, a stirring and explosive debut novel about an american muslim family in wisconsin struggling with faith and belonging in the pre911 world.