Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

What readers think of American Dervish, plus links to write your own review.

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar

American Dervish

A Novel

by Ayad Akhtar
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • First Published:
  • Jan 9, 2012, 368 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Sep 2012, 384 pages
  • Reviewed by BookBrowse Book Reviewed by:
    Megan Shaffer
  • Genres & Themes
  • Publication Information
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About This Book

Reviews

Page 1 of 1
There is 1 reader review for American Dervish
Order Reviews by:

Write your own review!

M E Hayes

Caught between two cultures.
After hearing the interview on NPR with the author, Ayad Akhtar, I was intrigued.
This is a timely, contemporary novel concerning topics of religious freedoms, immigration, family ties and personal growth. Hayat, the narrator is young and impressionable but who should he believe when those he loves and trusts are each guiding him with opposing words and demands. What values are really important? Imagine a spinning top contained within a box or boxes, it whirs and turns bouncing from one side to another in constant motion.
Only when he stops to listen to his own breath, listen to his own heart is he able to feel complete, feel centered.
This book describes a Pakistani family with Muslim ties residing in an American city trying desperately to be intimate, caring and good but at times is violent, wrought with self doubt and on the brink of destruction.
  • Page
  • 1

Beyond the Book:
  The Devotion of a Hafiz

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Graveyard Shift
    Graveyard Shift
    by M. L. Rio
    Following the success of her debut novel, If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio's latest book is the quasi-...
  • Book Jacket: The Sisters K
    The Sisters K
    by Maureen Sun
    The Kim sisters—Minah, Sarah, and Esther—have just learned their father is dying of ...
  • Book Jacket: Linguaphile
    Linguaphile
    by Julie Sedivy
    From an infant's first attempts to connect with the world around them to the final words shared with...
  • Book Jacket
    The Rest of You
    by Maame Blue
    At the start of Maame Blue's The Rest of You, Whitney Appiah, a Ghanaian Londoner, is ringing in her...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

A million monkeys...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.