This Ain’t My Life by Bilal Alaji
The American immigrant experience, particularly for those of Muslim descent, has become a front-page topic in recent years, giving This Ain’t My Life by author Bilal Alaji a true sense of import, for a timely and poignant read.
Recounting his life from childhood to the present, this is a brutally honest and precisely recorded story, one that feels very naturally told, but also framed within larger social issues and beliefs the author wants to highlight. The author’s youthful success and whimsy were dampened by brutal familial expectations, run-ins with the law, and self-professed mistakes in judgment. Despite repeated stumbles and […]