The wrong end of the table A mostly comic memoir of a Muslim Arab American woman just trying to fit in

Fitting into her new home of Lexington, Kentucky, was not going to be easy especially with a name like Ayser. Her parents had moved their family from Baghdad to America when she was three years old. What followed was a series of culture clashes that Salman comically recounts, from the perils of bringing food from home to the school lunch table to what type of Egg McMuffin is acceptable for a Muslim. Salman convincingly states that her parents traded one fascist regime for another of their creation, where, for example, she was not allowed to date until she was 19, when it was time to find a husband. Laced in her offbeat takes about immigrant life, dating, and measuring up to her parents' demands are vivid descriptions of what it is like to be a Muslim in America, including a letter to President Trump begging him not to turn the country she loves into the Iraq she left behind. Humorous and heartfelt, Salman's story reflects the best and worst that her new country has to offer an outsider.--Bridget Thoreson Copyright 2010 Booklist

Romantic struggles and strict immigrant parents inform a journey toward self-acceptance in this fast-paced, funny memoir by an Iraqi-born film editor and producer. Throughout a nomadic childhood spent in Iraq, the U.S., and Saudi Arabia, Salman was often the new kid. But family and faith remain constants in this series of vignettes that follow her through childhood, film school, and her career in Los Angeles. The chronological structure wears away as Salman gets older, leaving space for philosophical musings and slices of life: a heartfelt open letter to President Trump, a questioning of her Muslim practice, and a meditation on how long Iraqis take to say goodbye. But these chapters are, while colorful, too short and numerous to pack the same punch as the narrative parts. The last section of the book, focusing on dating, picks up the chronology and once again allows Salman's voice and humor to shine; she has a gift for chapter titles ("Land of the Free, Home of the McMuffin"), recounts funny anecdotes (including a conversation in which she and her mother decide she could never marry Salman Rushdie because it would be too confusing to be "Mrs. Ayser Salman Rushdie), and uses footnotes to great comic effect. Unevenly structured but always funny, this enjoyable and heartfelt book is great for a plane, the beach, or a free afternoon. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.