Native Believer

by Ali Eteraz, Elias Khalil (Narrator)

"A gifted writer and scholar, Eteraz is able to create a true-life Islamic bildungsroman as he effortlessly conveys his coming-of-age tale while educating the reader...His catharsis transcends the page.”
— Publishers Weekly on Children of Dust

Ali Eteraz’s much-anticipated debut novel is the story of M., a millennial dandy, lapsed believer, aesthete, and second-generation immigrant who wants nothing more than to bring children into the world as full-fledged Americans. As M.’s world gradually fragments around him—his military-contractor wife refuses to start a family because of a debilitating illness; he is abandoned by his best friend and mentor; and he loses his respectable job at an ad agency after a politically charged confrontation with his boss—M. spins out into the pulsating underbelly of Philadelphia, where he encounters other young men and women grappling with fallout from the War on Terror.

Among the pornographers and converts to Islam, punks, and wrestlers, M. reconstitutes, and vows never again to face the specter of degradation and humiliation as a second-class citizen. Darkly comic, provocative, and insightful, Native Believer is a startling vision of the contemporary American experience and the human capacity to shape identity and belonging at all costs.

Ali Eteraz is based at the San Francisco Writer’s Grotto. He is the author of the coming-of-age memoir Children of Dust (HarperCollins) and the surrealist short story collection Falsipedies & Fibsiennes (Guernica Ed.). Eteraz’s short fiction has appeared in the Chicago Quarterly Review, storySouth, and Crossborder, and his nonfiction has been highlighted by NPR, the New York Times, and the Guardian. Recently, Eteraz received the 3 Quarks Daily Arts & Literature Prize judged by Mohsin Hamid, and served as a consultant to the artist Jenny Holzer on a permanent art installation in Qatar. Eteraz has lived in the Dominican Republic, Pakistan, the Persian Gulf, and Alabama.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Islam, Cultural, Literary Fiction, United States, Novels

10 pages, Audiobook

First published April 11, 2016

About the author

ALI ETERAZ is the author of the novel NATIVE BELIEVER (Akashic, 2016), a 2016 Summer Reading List Selection by O: The Oprah Magazine. He is the author of the coming-of-age memoir CHILDREN OF DUST (HarperCollins) and the surrealist short story collection FALSIPEDIES & FIBSIENNES (Guernica Editions).

Eteraz’s short fiction has appeared in the Chicago Quarterly Review, storySouth, and Crossborder, and his nonfiction has been highlighted by NPR, the New York Times, and the Guardian. Recently, Eteraz received the 3 Quarks Daily Arts & Literature Prize judged by Mohsin Hamid, and served as a consultant to the artist Jenny Holzer on a permanent art installation in Qatar.

Eteraz has lived in the Dominican Republic, Pakistan, the Persian Gulf, and Alabama. He is based at the San Francisco Writer's Grotto.

Reviews

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eteraz’s very timely novel is thought-provoking, inventive, amusing in tone and a little crass as it explores the complex issues of identity against the destiny we desire. The narrator known as M. is a second-generation secular Muslim raised in the South who was well on his way of solidifying his Americanization until he loses his job because his boss finds out M. has a Koran in his home. All the paranoia of the post 9/11 America and The War of Terror are now placed on his shoulders as he has been labeled a Muslim”, an identity he never assigned to himself. In his despondent state, M. wrestles with the political, social and personal tensions as he works through who he is. I liked that the book is set in Philadelphia which has a set known identity associated with liberty and freedom and how it is upended as the author writes of an underground Philadelphia. The scenes of violence and disrespectful behavior towards women made me uncomfortable.
Overall, I thought the writing was fresh as it explores issues of identity, religion, and stereotypes.
I look forward of reading future books by the author.

This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is - I think - the first time I've ever given just two stars to a book. I - who am usually a very fast reader - found this book very, very slow reading. The characters are interesting but did not seem believable. And the ending - just wait. I was very interested in the subject - a young Muslim though atheist, married to a white Southern "belle" living in Philadelphia (a city with which I am familiar.) But the story was so convoluted - the wife's illness which is mysterious and treatable but not- the "friends" who are not friends, the job/not job. Just couldn't figure out where the author was going and why. I have read some autobiography of the author which helps in understand the book, but that should not be needed in reading fiction. However, I found it interesting enough that I'd like to see what else Eteraz writes; where he is trying to go is of great interest but I don't think he got there.

[Claudia Putnam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed feelings about this one. Beautifully written, but heavy handed. Initially it seemed it would follow the same trajectory as The Reluctant Fundamentalist, which I loved, but which would be predictable a second time around. However, this book is quite surprising. Still, the message is a bit obvious--America is hard to love and over demanding. And a liar. And even when you give her everything she wants, or even when you prove your loyalty beyond doubt, you will be judged. By America. For being TOO American.

It's a good point. I only wished he hadn't taken so long to make it. Novellas don't sell, but I thought this was a novella at heart.

[SueKich · Rating 4 out of 5]

The USlamist.

Some years ago, Ali Eteraz wrote an acclaimed coming-of-age memoir called Children of Dust and this, his first novel, has been long-awaited in the States. The narrator is not so much a lapsed believer in Islam as a non-believer. As the second-generation son of immigrant Asian parents, what he does believe in is America. So strong is his faith that he yearns for nothing more than to father children, to feed his DNA into the native fabric of his country. If only his wife could – or would – oblige.

We are not told until the end of this book that the narrator calls himself M; no guessing what it stands for. Physically slight, an intellectual and a dandy, M is married to a giant of a white wife from the top tier of South Carolinian society. Marie-Anne has become obese and hirsute, the side-effects of her meds for an unusual medical condition. They make an oddly compatible couple. For a while, he thinks he’s going places in the world of PR. “Marketing was a religion that paid well and we would have been foolish to cast doubt upon our deity.” But post 9/11, the establishment is not quite as colour-blind as he had assumed. It comes as quite a shock.

This Philadelphia story tells of the narrator’s strange marriage, his journey into the small city’s underworld (with its Muslim porn industry, Talibang Productions) and how M finally decides where his loyalties lie. Does he alter his original self-assessment that he feels “five-eighths American. 62.5 percent”? With its shocking conclusion, this book is definitely worth reading to find out. Eteraz engages, surprises, chafes, outrages, reconsiders and - ultimately - gives the reader plenty to think about. Oh, and did I forget to say? It’s also very funny. 4.5*

[Megalion]

I usually enjoy novels exploring the human condition. I set this book down at 37% several days ago and just now admitted that I don't want to pick it back up.

I think if I had picked this up at a different time, I would have enjoyed this one too.

Thanks to the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read it via a free reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Crystal]

DNF at about 5-10% in. This starts off with the main character being fatphobic about his wife for pages worth of audio. Started reading reviews and apparently this continues throughout so thanks, no thanks.

[Lizzy Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a slow beginning.
Then it picked up at the point where Eteraz used one of his characters to lay out that darkly comical/mock ironical concept of "Salato"(p. 92 of 271). I can see how Yoga and the other fashionable exercises we indulge in nowadays, are in truth relics of the oldest religions--and a concept like Salato would not be any different, if introduced (except perhaps in a post 9/11 world, maybe that would be a bit tricky!).

I also appreciated the details that Eteraz provided in his novel as to how 9/11 changed the identity of the Muslim. His new self-defensive nature, his inability to "hook up" with white American girls, unlike the pre 9/11 era are quite imaginable. The dialogue Eteraz introduced through the mouthpieces of his characters, starting with the explanation of how a vagina gets wet even during rape; then about God being likened to the Vagina, and men penises; of the Twin Towers in New York being compared to the Vagina, and Al Qaeda, the penises that raped it(and hence raped America), was obviously provocative, but also nonsensical. That had value.

Value because if literature is not provocative, in the spirit of Kafka's thoughts on the subject, it's dead. And it was a good idea to include the nonsense, because Eteraz reproduced the nature of conversations people have. I know for example that the Malaysian Twin Towers are often likened to Mahathir's Penis (or Vagina, I can't remember...), and much as I deem these comments to be stupid and frivolous, I hear them often--that's how people talk. Anyway, literature is, has been and should be THE vehicle to immortalize the thoughts of a people/century.

Unravelling the truth about Marie-Anne's psychiatric condition towards the end of the story, which supposedly disguised a biological/genetic condition, was however a disappointment; the type where a character you've learnt to appreciate suddenly appears incredulous. Perhaps it was the abrupt way in which it was unravelled. Marie-Anne had at first appeared to be a very intriguing character; especially her obesity, that emotional pitiful need for M's poems prior to her exercise sessions, her egocentric take-all-give-nothingness or me-firstness during sexual intercourse... All that reminded me of America -- or the way we are made to feel about America, we who are on the other side of the world. So it was good, until M, that is Marie-Anne's husband started to sound too magnanimous (towards her) to be real, making the dynamics between the couple really hard to believe. It felt as if Eteraz's intention was to win the reader's sympathy by presenting a narrator who always put his obese, growingly unattractive wife before everything else. And yet, M displayed completely different attributes towards Candace, the lady he later met and had a relationship with-- not that a man can't love an obese wife, but M referred to it absolutely every time he spoke about Marie-Anne, so it's not like he really overlooked it, and saw "beyond the fat".

--Back to that subject about M's contradictory behavior towards Candace and Marie-Anne.
Yes, it's wrong to think that human beings are not capable of displaying completely different characteristics. They do, depending on the people they interact with, but M's Yin and Yang(or "beyond good and evil" nature) did not seem cohesive....even if Eteraz tried to use Nietzschean values to explain M's behavior towards Candace, and how he desperately wanted to impregnate her.

Eteraz's references to Erik Satie, Ravel's Bolero and other famous classical pieces, and then his commentaries on Rumi, Dylan Thomas, seemed artificial and overdone-- why? Because with the "democratization" of classical philosophy, classical music, classical art, classical-everything, we now have the phenomenon of the wanna-be aesthete who knows Satie, Ravel, Tchaikovksy etc., but knows enough just to pose as an aesthete. In addition, anyone who reads, would deem the facts that Eteraz lays out about scholars, philosophers and poets to be so common as to be self-evident and hence, a waste of words...or a failed attempt on Eteraz's part to show off an intimate knowledge of those works.

Writing wise, I think Eteraz's style is very inconsistent (a bit like this hastily written review!!). The "voice" he adopts switches too easily from the formal to the informal to the intimate and then back again, without there being an understanding of symphony or coherence. Native Believer lacks the sort of rhythm and flow that one can see generously in Nabokov's works, and one can to a fair extent in Rushdie's.

[Jennifer Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's hard for me to know what to say about this book. Although the writing is entertaining, as are the characters, the truth is that I just didn't enjoy it.. at all. On its face, I was excited to read it--the book presents the story of a man who, though raised as a Muslim, simply doesn't practice any belief system. When his boss fires him in an apparent reaction to his assumed religion, though, his wife and everyone around him seem to be pushing him to re-build his identity in direct relation to his being a Muslim, though he didn't even consider himself one to begin with. There's a lot of nuance to the psychology of what's presented here actually, and it's a story that ought to be told and discussed... and yet. Stylistically, and in terms of tone, there's not really anything about this book that I enjoyed, beyond the broadest possible look at the subject.

In some ways, I'd compare it to American Psycho, but with a cynical look at belief and love integrated where the other takes a look at consumerism and sex and violence. Another relevant comparison might be the works of Flannery O'Connor, because of this author's juxtaposition of cynical belief, or lack thereof, with characters who are as much grotesques as full-bodied presentations, entertaining as they are. And yet... neither comparison really gets at the work, though each pulls at a piece of what bothers me about it.

Simply, I suppose I just felt that everything was a little bit overdone, a little bit extreme. And maybe that's the point--I wouldn't be surprised if it is. But nevertheless, I'm afraid it made the book a struggle for me to get through.

[ManOfLaBook.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

Native Believer by Ali Eteraz is a novel about a sec­u­lar Mus­lim liv­ing in today's Amer­ica.

Native Believer by Ali Eteraz is a dark satire and social com­men­tary from a dif­fer­ent per­spec­tive, that of an Amer­i­can who is also a sec­u­lar Mus��lim. Our nar­ra­tor, “M” is the son of immi­grants, mar­ried to a white Chris­t­ian woman. M lives in Philadel­phia, happy and con­tent with his life and his job at an adver­tis­ing agency.

M’s life turns upside-down when he has a party for his co-workers (always a bad idea) and his boss finds a Koran in a pouch, a gift from M’s mother. M didn’t even know the book was up there (he’s too short) and assumed the shelf was empty, and any­way, the hand­made pouch had value, not the book. That doesn’t mat­ter though, and M finds him­self jobless.

For the rest of the book, M tries to find out what it means to a Mus­lim, devout or sec­u­lar, in Amer­ica. He moves around the diverse Mus­lim pop­u­la­tion in Philadel­phia, from Mus­lim pornog­ra­phy to cre­at­ing a mar­ket­ing cam­paign for a rich Arab try­ing to bring Islam to the United States via exer­cise tapes, and becom­ing part of the State Department’s Mus­lim Out­reach pro­gram (the pay is good and you get to travel).

Mr. Eteraz wrote an inter­est­ing and witty novel which is unpre­dictable and infor­ma­tive. While read­ing, I found myself won­der­ing how much of the novel is actu­ally true about the sec­u­lar Mus­lim cul­ture in America.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

[Waqas Mirza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ali Eteraz’s debut novel is a kaleidoscopic panorama of 21st century America. It is an unadulterated portrayal of an empire that forces all to give in to its logic and does not hesitate to punish those who offer resistance. American Muslims are not so much the subject of the book as they are its raw material. Surveying broad swaths of a breathtaking tapestry, across a landscape populated by a colorfully sundry cast, Eteraz manages to tease out the core contradictions of life in contemporary America. The story is set in a vividly rendered Philadelphia, where loyalties are in constant flux, where roots often act as shackles, and the pursuit of the American dream is hampered at every turn by the relentless pull of a past that never ceases to exist.

[Sanjida · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book starts off at 5 stars because it's a love letter to my favorite city in America, Philadelphia.

And of course, me being who I am, and the narrator being who he is, every part of this story was a punch to my gut.

If you're interested in a more cynical remix of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by way of Gatsby and Passing, do pick this up. And trigger warnings to my fellow "West Asian".

[Bharat · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author could not decide what he wanted this book to be, so chose to go in three different directions (which is fine, I guess), then ended on an absurdist 4th (which felt like it was written by someone else).

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt strongly compelled to read Native Believer the debut novel of writer Ali Eteraz, because I am very highly interested in Middle Eastern-American fiction and reading any/all great modern literary fiction is my top reading priority right now. While I found Eteraz's literary craft unremarkable in style (i.e. the prose), form (e.g. organization of the text) as well thematic depth/development, I nevertheless found it a worthwhile and rewarding reading experience. Indeed, I would highly and broadly recommend this book to readers whose interest is palpaply piqued by:

A) any particular thing about the plot and thematic content available in the basic book descriptions;

B) any individual element of Eteraz's background or specific reputed literary strength;

C) the critical acclaim of qualities and strengths in this work, as they are specified by the reviewers;

D) especially strongly for 1) those drawn by an interest in Middle Eastern American perspectives, and/or 2) how intersection of the Middle East and the US with their different, incredibly complex, and internally diverse cultures in our time would/could affect individual human lives in context, and finally and most clearly;

E) those readers who have deeper knowledge of this area of literature, this author's work, have read a sample that increases/solidifies their interest in this read, or any other reason for interest that is based on more knowledge of anything about the work or reader herself than the minimums necessary to give rise to any one or more of the specific possible roots of interest discussed above.

Eteraz's novel is true literary fiction that will offer its reader a genuinely original, intelligent perspective, which I expect would stimulate some amount of fresh and interesting thinking about the contemporary issues involved in the story in any smart, close reader whatever her ignorance or conversely depth of reading and/or personal lived experience related to any important element(s) of this story's content. A consistent strength of this work that should increase the pleasure and overall value of this read is smart sense of humor, which undergirds the story from the first page to the last. Eteraz's sense of the absurd, frequent and apt identication of irony, and the altogether light touch with which he treats everything in the story without shortchanging the themes and issues he raises. Actually, Eteraz does a lot better than meet that low bar; he maintains the depth and complexity of the story's content throughout. Indeed, my ultimate impression based on my first full reading is that Eteraz has created a work of real significance in Native Believer. It is definitely a noteworthy debut altogether; one particular notable element making it so noteworthy is this novel is without inconsistencies in its demonstration of its strengths, as far as those strengths go, over the course of the text. This is key to the book's success as a work of art altogether, and it seems to me a rare and particularly commendable trait in a debut novel. It definitely mitigates the underwhelming ambition (''ceiling") of the work, which somewhat disappointed my hopes as I approached this read.

The text is very straightforward (i.e. easy reading by lit fic standards) and makes a very quick read given it's shorter than most modern novels published these days (ostensibly) for adult readers. The novel is written from in the first-person, using American vernacular that is quite casual -- for example, sentence fragments appear frequently so as to maximize the reader's sense of undiluted, unfiltered access to the narrator's own storytelling voice as spoken or thought internally at the expense of grammar, among other things (e.g. more sophisticated prose raises the ceiling on nuance and depth of understanding of the perspective presented, although they are by no means the exclusive means to raising this ceiling far higher than that set by Eteraz's writing in Native Believer).

To conclude, I'll list the particular impressions I had of this novel, which I expect may be of particular use in evaluating the relative worth of this read by a number of (different) readers. This novel:

--doesn't bite off more than it can chew

--has food for significant and original thought for any reader who cares to seek that kinda thing in the text

--is written in non-intimidating vernacular from a 1st peson perspective -- making it an exceptionally easy (as well as quick) read among works of literary fiction**(see note at end)

--is funny(!) Humor is at the foundation of the perspective and is present throughout the text. It's not lol stuff, but
it's good, accessible and I'd guess broadly enjoyable to potential audiences (in some worthwhile way/to some notable degree) -- as well as smart humor, which enhances the literary quality and effect of the work on the whole.

--is very good but not noteworthy, let alone outstanding or not-to-be-missed, literary fiction when judged against other works already published this year let alone in comparison to any broader temporal sampling of English-language literature, which are worthy of that name. Is the point of this observation unclear to you (that would not surprise me given how poorly written it is)? My point in mentioning this is that I expect readers looking for the best new literary debut novels will be disappointed with this read; I'd recommend it only in cases where there is some other particular draw for the reader other than the fact (IMHO) of its being quality debut literary fiction.

--offers an interesting, intelligent, original perspective as a work. I speak not only of the narrator's perspective but moreover and more particularly of the novel's stated perspective -- in other words, the perspective Ali Eteraz has presented through this work of art considered as a/on the whole.

Thanks for reading my (often too awkwardly and too lengthily expressed) ideas. I truly hope they are of some use to at least some of you fellow readers in deciding whether or not this read will satisfy or disappoint your personal hopes and expectations for it.

Please be advised I received a free copy of this work through my undeserved good fortune and the generosity of the publisher via the wonderful LibraryThing Early Reviewers program with the understanding that I would post an honest review of work once read.

**By "works of literary fiction" I specifically intend to refer to novels written in English fitting this description written in any of the last few centuries of all levels of quality, and notably, in current times, regardless of how broadly or narrowly one defines literary fiction so long as at least some cited example of designation in this category or as its functional equivalent is present.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who are you? Do you get to be what you will yourself to be, or are you what others say you are? These questions are uneasily (but in a good way) explored in Ali Eteraz's Native Believer. It's narrated by M., a second-generation American of West Asian parentage, and nominally Muslim. Born and raised in the South, he went to college at Emory where he meets his future wife, Marie-Anne, she the Amazonian white girl, with a cortisone problem, from genteel South Carolina, who works for a company that provides unmanned aerial surveillance. M. works in a PR firm in Philadelphia, the cradle of America. After being fired by his new boss, for seemingly being Muslim (which goes said/unsaid), M. becomes unmoored and starts wandering around Philadelphia, meeting up and falling in with a motley assortment of Muslims, whose main connection is that they are firstly Americans, searching for their outwardly dual identities to be seen as one. Eteraz goes boldly into what it means to be Muslim and American in a post-9/11 world. He doesn't mince words and doesn't shy away from some controversial material and ideas (which the ending proves in its subversive blindsided ending). Eteraz has written a novel about a specific identity in a specific time, taking nothing away from what it means to be a native of any one place, and what it means to believe.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not at all sure what to think of this. And, I mean that in a good way. The author does a lot of clever things. The characters are generally unlikable. Marie-Ann (is that supposed to sound like 'ameri-can'?) is unhealthy and only making herself sicker because of stress, we are told. Is that supposed to be our culture? There's a twist at the end that really makes me wonder about that inerpretation (a twist I did see coming earlier). I really disliked 'M', the main character, because I thought he was a pushover, he just let people do whatever they wanted to him/with him. Well, I guess I read him wrong or he matured. But I did not see that ending coming in any way shape or form. It was a lot of thinking about what it means to be American, what it means to be Muslim, and what it means to be an immigrant. Those are all ill-defined things, and it all added up to a decent story -- if not a likeable one.

[Krista · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was very descriptive, and the book was engaging, but I found almost all of the characters unlikeable. Even more unfortunately, the two most unlikeable characters were the two main characters.

[Adi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and provacative but a bit of a challenging Story

[Lara Vaive · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started out well, but it took a turn halfway through that repelled me. I couldn't finish it, even though my friend suggested I plow through to the end.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raises interesting and important topics, but the writing is clunky and it was a slog to get through.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

With a nameless narrator who goes only by M., you see one non-religious man of Muslim heritage in America. This book is weird, absurd, and existential but in really enlightening and astute ways. It covers masculinity and femininity, marriage, fundamentalism, sexuality, and more. It's not a book for everyone but it's just unique enough to make it stand out. Plus it has a bit of a surprise ending.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heard Ali Eteraz read a hair-raising, utterly compelling scene from Native Believer at a literary event in Oakland, California in October, and it put his novel on my must-read list. It is fearless, and contains some of the sharpest, subtlest irony I've read in 21st century fiction. Here, for example, describing a roomful of earnest, world reforming rent-seekers (and I write that description lovingly...):

As introductions occurred I learned that none of the people had a specific profession. Some referred to themselves as pundits, others as commentators, others as activists, and yet others as social-outreach alchemists. They considered themselves writers or intellectuals, though they hadn't yet gotten around to the onerous task of publishing. A few of them were putting together an anthology featuring one another's commentary. A majority of them were from state universities and junior colleges and bristled at the "elitism" and "privilege" of those who went to private universities or the Ivy League. They were also resentful of the ones that went off into investment banking or engineering or law in pursuit of "making paper." They believed that life was better spent reducing conflict in the world, reforming the faith of the forefathers, and working for international harmony, all of it done in the name of America.

A mid-novel descent into a Muslim-American sub-culture steeped in the production of pornography and callous disdain for women surprised me, and, I have to admit, put me off sharply. It was only as the novel concluded that I came to fully understand that Eteraz intends the reader to despise pretty much all his characters: it is a story of villains (or, if one enthusiastically subscribes to a misanthropic view of the species, a story of the human condition). A bit of deus ex machina in the final pages might have been dialed back, I think; but Native Believer is nonetheless a bracing critique and a gripping tale, written by a brave and skilled storyteller.

[Ming · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow. A completely clever and innovative story. It's subversive and witty. Its social commentary and parody are on point and incisive. There are parts that are bewildering, unflinching and bizarre. I'm grateful that this book took me into new territory (when I thought I knew a lot already and had read a lot), and entertained and educated me.

A quote from the book:

"And the rest of the world fell in line with this new game. If you're Indian, pissed off about Pakistan complaining about Kashmir? Hey, just call them Muslims and get them declared a terrorist state. If you're Israel and your don't want to release an inch of the West Bank to the Palestinians? Hey, just call the Muslims and you don't have to move our tanks. If you're Russian, struggling with a bunch of Chechens telling you to stop raping their women? Hey, just call them Muslims and blow them to bits. If you're Chinese and struggling with a bunch of poor Uighur demanding some respect from the Han? Hey, just call them Muslims and jail all their leaders. If you're European and you've got millions of illiterate Turks and Moroccans and Algerians and Libyans who you didn't allow to become citizens for decades? Hey, just call them Muslims and declare them Fascist or lazy or criminal or all of the above. And if you're American and you want to fly around the world and bomb the boogers out of countries that object to you taking their oil and resources? Hey just call them Muslims and go to town."

Another quote:

"To the pursuit of happiness, Mahmoud raised his glass, "May every Muslim in the world have access to it."

Marie-Anne clinked back. "And also, too, to the rule of law," she added. "Which can only be brought about through effective law enforcement and surveillance."

[Noor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book and one that will take more than one reading to understand fully. Eteraz digs deeply into first and second generation Muslim societies living in the United States at a time when the country does not want them. His illustrations of the coping mechanisms that each character takes to make America their own are both realistic and necessary; they point out the natural flaws in American society and the stigma surrounding Muslims/aliens of any kind post 9/11.

There are times when the topics themselves are very heavy handed and so the story moves incredibly slowly. I find that this adds to the complexity of the book in its entirety. Definitely a must read, just one that takes a few days to fully digest.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was having a hard time identifying with the main characters until about halfway. Then I realized this author is a member of the Millennial generation and so are the main characters. With that knowledge, I understood the sexual explorations, the games played in attempting to embody an adult life fully and without feeling that you were compromising yourself. Add to that being not only a "non-white", but also a "Muslim-like" second-generation immigrant from a Muslim family, born and raised in America post 9/11. I got it. Until the ending, which was a cop-out.

This feels like a sort of memoir to me, with a definite slant of cynicism. The novel had weight. I would have rated it higher except for the way the author chose to end the story.

[Christopher Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a humorous, thought-provoking look into the life of a Muslim American struggling to make sense of this "new" America full of job losses, financial crunches, the role of men and women in our society, and what it means to be an American when a large of portion of the country you belong to doesn't love you back. Its fitting the book begins with a James Baldwin quote because the book speaks to the rules - written and unwritten - of being a minority in America. For black Americans – always make eye contact and smile; never put your hands in your pocket; never make any sudden moves; never ever question America; always do whatever a cop tells you" the rules are as old as the Republic. But for Muslim Americans, as we see through the eyes of M., most of these rules came when the Twin Towers fell. Through clear prose and precise writing style, Eteraz's book articulates the story not just of Muslim Americans but of the Millenial generation. The book strikes a good balance between covering serious topics while not taking itself too seriously. Its a difficult thing to do but Eteraz does it masterfully.

[Vanessa Hua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Native Believer is a provocative, darkly comic novel that challenges the reader in every way. The years-long war on terror has led to the disintegration of the narrator's life, livelihood, and marriage. What at first seems absurd, in territory of satire, may in fact be closer to the reality of the madness that M. faces. And yet, M. is by no means a representative, a spokesman for Muslims. He is a compelling, singular character that you'd follow anywhere.

As Elena Ferrante writes: "Only in bad novels people always think the right thing, always say the right thing, every effect has its cause, there are the likable ones and the unlikable, the good and the bad, everything in the end consoles you."

The novel offers no such consolations -- and shouldn't have to. M's fate will shake you and leave you thinking for months to come, as the best literature always does.

In each of Eteraz's books -- a memoir, short story collection, and this debut novel -- he touches upon the similar themes, writes with humor and poignancy, and yet each one is utterly original. I can't wait to see what he attempts next.

[HighPrairieBookworm - Jonni Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

M. is a first generation American, born in the American South and a Muslim by heritage, not belief. In fact, M. identifies as non-religious and perhaps an atheist.

But…non-Muslim Americans don’t see him that way. He’s seen as Muslim because of his name and his skin color. He is fired from his job because his boss sees the Koran his mother put high on his bookshelf. A book he didn’t even know he owned.

So goes M’s luck until he finds friends among the Philadelphia Muslim community who are happy and willing to introduce him to local Muslim practices along with a little Muslim pornography.

This is a story of one man’s journey to finding himself. As an outsider in “mainstream” America and as an outsider in a community of which most Americans consider him to be a member, M. winds his way to finding what he believes in and re-imagining his marriage and his future.

The last chapter - no, the last few pages will leave you gasping. This is a page turner and a grand testimony to Eli Eteraz’s gift as a story teller.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

[Andre(Read-A-Lot) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wild and impertinent. Loved the ending, it was totally unexpected but a pleasant surprise. This novel is just quirky and a little offbeat. M. is the narrator, the west Asian American southerner, with the Muslim name. The humor of the novel is that everyone thinks M.is a Muslim, but he really isn't, even though he has a muslim name. And his wife, Marie-Anne, a southern white woman hailing from South Carolina what a total trip she was. His love for her was exuberant to a fault, including his indulging her strange sexual musings and emotional fluctuations. Readers will definitely be surprised by some of the Muslims they meet in this novel, as Ali Eteraz turns Islamic convention on its head. Some laugh out loud moments. A fun, crazy read. 3.5

[Alice Heiserman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an innovative book recommended by another Goodreads member. It was insightful, had a fresh style and wonderful pacing. It was the story of a Muslim young business executive who was married to an Amazonian woman. He works at an ad agency and faces discrimination. Because of this, he begins to explore his roots and goes through some wild weird episodes. He explores a variety of Islamic cults to get a sense of who he really is and what his cultural identity means. Most of all, it's a great read.

[Kamil · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating read though I still can't figure out how much I liked it. It is dark and does raise a lot of uncomfortable questions but somehow I did not get hooked to it. It took me quite a while to finish it.