Son of elsewhere : a memoir in pieces / Elamin Abdelmahmoud.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Abdelmahmoud, Elamin, author.

Contributor:

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Authors, Canadian--Biography.

Authors, Canadian.

Immigrants--Canada--Biography.

Immigrants.

Identity (Psychology).

Abdelmahmoud, Elamin.

Canada.

Genre:

Autobiographies.

Biographies.

Essays.

Physical Description:

268 pages ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Ballantine Books, [2022]

Summary:

"Professional wrestling super fandom, Ontario's endlessly unfurling 401 highway, late nights at the convenience store listening to heavy metal--for writer and podcast host Elamin Abdelmahmoud, these are the building blocks of a life. Son of Elsewhere charts that life in wise, funny, and moving reflections on the many threads that weave together into an identity. Arriving in Canada at age 12 from Sudan, Elamin's teenage years were spent trying on new ways of being in the world, new ways of relating to his almost universally white peers. His is a story of yearning to belong in a time and place where expectation and assumptions around race, faith, language, and origin make such belonging extremely difficult, but it's also a story of the surprising and unexpected ways in which connection and acceptance can be found. In this extraordinary debut collection, the process of growing--of trying, failing, and trying again to fit in--is cast against the backdrop of the memory of life in a different time, and different place--a Khartoum being bombed by the United States, a nation seeking to define and understand itself against global powers of infinite reach. Taken together, these essays explore how we pick and choose from our experience and environment to help us in the ongoing project of defining who we are--how, for instance, the example of Mo Salah, the profound grief practices of Islam, the nerdy charm of The O.C.'s Seth Cohen, and the long shadow of colonialism can cohere into a new and powerful whole. With the perfect balance of relatable humor and intellectual ferocity, Son of Elsewhere confronts what we know about ourselves, and most important, what we're still learning."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Prologue: Elsewhere

Son of Elsewhere - Roads (Part I)

Infinite reach

Wrestling

Roads (Part II)

Running down the wing

The metal kids

Roads (Part III)

House of tears

The O.C.

Roads (Part IV)

A river runs through it

The estrangement

Roads (Part V)

Epilogue: Elsewhere.

Notes:

"Published simultaneously in Canada by McClelland & Stewart"--Title page verso.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

ISBN:

9780593496855

059349685X

OCLC:

1317704991

Publisher Number:

99991096607