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The Bad Immigrant
An account of an immigrant family's struggle and the lessons learned about diversity
Writing at the height of her powers, The Bad Immigrant cements Sefi Atta’s place as one of the best storytellers of our time. Through the voice of her first male protagonist, Lukmon, Atta peels away nuanced layers to expose the realities of migration from Nigeria to the USA, such as the strains of adjustment and the stifling pressure to conform without loss of identity.
Covering a wide range of issues, including interracial and intra-racial tensions, and familial strains exacerbated in a new geographic and cultural environment, this novel is a thoroughgoing exposition of the many challenges that confront a modern migrant, told from the perspective of a protagonist whose sophistication and educational prowess is no guarantee of success in a country that is prone to valuing conformity over merit. Atta grounds Lukmon’s narrative in a wide array of cultural and literary allusions that testify to the author’s wit and sophisticated management of complicated matters in a manner at once erudite and accessible.
In The Bad Immigrant , Atta deftly drives the narrative forward with repartee that forges deep intimacy with the characters and engenders sympathy for all of them, even those we find infuriating.
Writing at the height of her powers, The Bad Immigrant cements Sefi Atta’s place as one of the best storytellers of our time. Through the voice of her first male protagonist, Lukmon, Atta peels away nuanced layers to expose the realities of migration from Nigeria to the USA, such as the strains of adjustment and the stifling pressure to conform without loss of identity.
Covering a wide range of issues, including interracial and intra-racial tensions, and familial strains exacerbated in a new geographic and cultural environment, this novel is a thoroughgoing exposition of the many challenges that confront a modern migrant, told from the perspective of a protagonist whose sophistication and educational prowess is no guarantee of success in a country that is prone to valuing conformity over merit. Atta grounds Lukmon’s narrative in a wide array of cultural and literary allusions that testify to the author’s wit and sophisticated management of complicated matters in a manner at once erudite and accessible.
In The Bad Immigrant , Atta deftly drives the narrative forward with repartee that forges deep intimacy with the characters and engenders sympathy for all of them, even those we find infuriating.
362 pages, Hardcover
Published November 2, 2021
9 people are currently reading
253 people want to read
About the author
Sefi Atta
23 books182 followersSefi Atta was born 1964 in Lagos, Nigeria. She was educated there, in England and the United States. Her father Abdul-Aziz Atta was the Secretary to Federal Government and Head of the Civil Service until his death in 1972, and she was raised by her mother Iyabo Atta.
A former chartered accountant and CPA, she is a graduate of the creative writing program at Antioch University, Los Angeles. Her short stories have appeared in journals like Los Angeles Review and Mississipi Review and have won prizes from Zoetrope and Red Hen Press. Her radio plays have been broadcast by the BBC. She is the winner of PEN International's 2004/2005 David TK Wong Prize and in 2006, her debut novel Everything Good Will Come was awarded the inaugural Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa.
Her short story collection, Lawless, received the 2009 Noma Award For Publishing in Africa. Lawless is published in the US and UK as News From Home.
She lives in Mississippi with her husband Gboyega Ransome-Kuti, a medical doctor, and their daughter, Temi.
A former chartered accountant and CPA, she is a graduate of the creative writing program at Antioch University, Los Angeles. Her short stories have appeared in journals like Los Angeles Review and Mississipi Review and have won prizes from Zoetrope and Red Hen Press. Her radio plays have been broadcast by the BBC. She is the winner of PEN International's 2004/2005 David TK Wong Prize and in 2006, her debut novel Everything Good Will Come was awarded the inaugural Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa.
Her short story collection, Lawless, received the 2009 Noma Award For Publishing in Africa. Lawless is published in the US and UK as News From Home.
She lives in Mississippi with her husband Gboyega Ransome-Kuti, a medical doctor, and their daughter, Temi.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 19, 2021
This gets 5 stars for is audacity, readability and wit. A Nigerian family's move to the US is used to explore racism from every angle and every ethnicity in both Nigeria and the US. The storytelling is fluid and fast, its characterisation fully developed. I couldn't put it down.
April 29, 2022
Found this book at my local library and really enjoyed it. The story was about a Nigerian family that immigrates to America narrarated by the father who was an academic back in Nigeria. He shares his experiences of his wife, a nurse, and 2 children (son & daughter) and their acclimation to life in New Jersey. Throughout the book you learn about his thoughts on race, gender, marriage, classism, raising children, black women's hair, the differences between Africans and African-Americans and everything in between.
To be honest, this just felt more like a journal of sorts because there was no real plot because things progressed so quickly in terms of time. The book seems to jump from when the family enters America trying to figure out how to make a life here to speeding through to an end where the two parents end up keeping the respectable careers they left in Nigeria. But to me, it was done in an insightful and at times, humorous way. I think the writer does share the struggle that immigrants face to get by and how hard they work to keep up appearances but I think the book was just an interesting take on someone's opinions on everyday life from a non American point of view.
To be honest, this just felt more like a journal of sorts because there was no real plot because things progressed so quickly in terms of time. The book seems to jump from when the family enters America trying to figure out how to make a life here to speeding through to an end where the two parents end up keeping the respectable careers they left in Nigeria. But to me, it was done in an insightful and at times, humorous way. I think the writer does share the struggle that immigrants face to get by and how hard they work to keep up appearances but I think the book was just an interesting take on someone's opinions on everyday life from a non American point of view.
March 27, 2022
This is a novel of the immigrant experience of a Nigerian family that wins lottery to come to US. The father is an academic and went along with his wife that it would be good for them to leave Nigeria. He is the narrator and the novel follows them from staying with a relative in Queens to moving to a house in NJ as she gets nursing license and he struggles to get an academic job which working as a security guard. According to his wife he is obsessed with race but his views are nuanced and very interesting. Overall an excellent story that rings true and leaves you thinking about it long after finish.
October 6, 2024
Great portrayal of a Nigerian family’s move to the United States and their experiences + challenges integrating into American society. It explores issues such as race, classism, marriage and gender roles in the diaspora.
This book has no particular plot but I could not put it down because it was so well written and incredibly witty. I loved getting to know Lukmon, Moriam and their children - I found myself getting attached to them and becoming deeply invested in how their lives turned out. I was also impressed by how Sefi Atta managed to write a whole novel from a male protagonist’s perspective. Good read.
This book has no particular plot but I could not put it down because it was so well written and incredibly witty. I loved getting to know Lukmon, Moriam and their children - I found myself getting attached to them and becoming deeply invested in how their lives turned out. I was also impressed by how Sefi Atta managed to write a whole novel from a male protagonist’s perspective. Good read.
November 17, 2024
Easy to read, simple but complex story, and so so fucking smart. It’s a clear exposition of race and racial identity with an overlay of the immigrant experience and family struggles. The story is unpretentious, engaging, and at times hilarious! It’s so direct, I wanted more of the story and to see the characters live their lives, grow, and challenge each other.
Kudos to the author for being able to so clearly capture the male voice for her protagonist!
Kudos to the author for being able to so clearly capture the male voice for her protagonist!
October 22, 2022
Beautiful portraiture of a family and a migration experience. I loved the wittiness of its characters. I laughed hard at times, and not many books do that to me. I enjoyed the admiration-resentment relationship I had with its protagonist. As you are consistently in his head, you sometimes can't help but resent him but he finds your way into your heart again.
February 9, 2023
Incredible look at immigration from various perspectives. Highly recommend to anyone interested in African lit (narrator teaches it), different cultural views on racism and sexism, and the issues involved in moving between cultures and assimilation. Really great book and gave me lots of leads for more reading.
January 31, 2022
This book is well written but there is really no plot or action to speak of, just a family trying to adjust to life in America and lots of family arguments, one of which ends in the ER with stitches.
abandoned
April 19, 2022I actually really liked what I read of this one and will probably go back and finish it one day. But it was a REALLY slow read for me and it was due back at the library when I was less than halfway through it. So DNF for now.
May 18, 2022
What a wonderful story teller this author is. I was SO invested in the four main characters! Their thoughts & actions were very well supported by their underlying personalities. Really a great book!
November 22, 2022
An intricate examination of race, class, gender, marriage in the diaspora coupled with raising children. Effusive in its enduring wit, audacity and readability. This reminded me more of Imbolo Mbue's Behold the Dreamers. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
September 8, 2023
interesting book, you have to get used to the style of writing but overall it was good. reading about these characters really opened my eyes to the difficulties of being an immigrant. the ups and downs of living in a different country and being homesick for your own.
November 22, 2023
I really like the writing and characters in this book, and the themes are well-explored. My disappointment is with the story itself, which is pretty small. It reads more like a memoir than a written of fiction.
March 2, 2024
Definitely an enlightening and often funny read with memorable characters, especially the main one. I enjoy the ability to be in another person’s head so that was satisfying. The book did get a little trope-ish at times.
December 8, 2021
Maybe and a half. Way too much arguing in this book for me
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January 12, 2023Why can't I read
February 18, 2025
Well-written with very direct and insightful takes on America as a whole, from family dynamics to politics to racism to economics and more. Very relatable and human characters, overall a great read
April 7, 2025
A well-written book about an immigrant family from Nigeria. Makes you think.
November 8, 2023
unconventional in the best way
Atta covers a wide range of issues—racism and immigrant parent’s unique form of it, feminism and various interpretations of it, classism and elitism among immigrants, fatherhood and parenting across cultural barriers—but never loses her witty humor. Very funny and authentic
Atta covers a wide range of issues—racism and immigrant parent’s unique form of it, feminism and various interpretations of it, classism and elitism among immigrants, fatherhood and parenting across cultural barriers—but never loses her witty humor. Very funny and authentic
July 3, 2023
The book is amazing! And the Autor is Sefi Atta
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews