Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | American Dervish | 2012 | Ayad Akhtar | Buy |
| 2 | Homeland Elegies | 2020 | Ayad Akhtar | Buy |
Ayad Akhtar’s two novels approach Muslim-American identity from different angles. American Dervish (2012) follows a boy growing up in a Milwaukee Muslim family in the early 1990s, dealing with religious questions and cultural conflicts. The novel draws on traditional coming-of-age storytelling.
Homeland Elegies (2020) takes a more experimental approach, with a protagonist who shares the author’s name and biography but whose story blurs into fiction. The novel examines money, identity, race, and belonging in America over the decades since 9/11. It was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and one of the most discussed novels of its year.