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Laila Lalami Books

Novelist

Laila Lalami is a Moroccan-American novelist born in 1968. Her works often focus on themes of immigration, identity, and cultural conflict, and have been well-received by readers.

Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in A...

A source page for quotes linked to Laila Lalami.

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Hope And Other Dangerous Pursuits

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The Moor's Account

A source page for quotes linked to Laila Lalami.

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The Other Americans

A source page for quotes linked to Laila Lalami.

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Life And Living Memory

Book:The Other Americans

Source: The Other Americans

“She was rich; she had the luxury of having faith. But then, Faten thought, Noura also had the luxury of having no faith; she'd probably found the hijab too constraining and ended up taking it off to show off her designer clothes. That was the thing with money. It gave you choices.”

Faith Money Choice

Book:Hope And Other Dangerous Pursuits

Source: Hope And Other Dangerous Pursuits

“My whole life has been lived in-between -- in between languages, in between cultures, in between countries ... My life resisted the kind of easy categories that the head of state had outlined for everyone. Surely, I told myself, a nation was a community, with views that are by necessity different, often divergent, and occasionally contradictory. Surely, true allegiance meant speaking up when something wasn't right.”

Allegiance

Book:Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America

Source: Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America

“A name is precious; it carries inside it a language, a history, a set of traditions, a particular way of looking at the world. Losing it meant losing my ties to all those things too.”

World Way Names Language Particular Losing Tradition Ties Carrie

Book:The Moor's Account

Source: The Moor's Account

“I [read] "The Book of Unknown Americans," which is by a friend of mine, Cristina Henriquez, and is about two Latino, immigrant families who live in Delaware. I'm interested in reading things from different perspectives.”

Two Book Different Reading Mines Perspective Immigrants Latino Different Perspective Delaware

Author:Laila Lalami

“I also read a lot of nonfiction. I just got "Nixonland" by Rick Perlstein. I felt like what with everything that is going on with the president [Donald trump] and the parallels with [Richard] Nixon's presidency, I needed to know more about the man.”

Knows Men Felt President He Man Trump Needed Nonfiction Presidency Parallels

Author:Laila Lalami

“I read "The Conquest of New Spain" by Bernal Diz Del Castillo, which I recommend to a lot of people. He was an eyewitness of [Hernando] Cortez's conquest of Mexico. It's at once very brutal and at times very plodding. It tells what they did everyday, so days can go by and nothing happens. Then all of the sudden they are torturing and doing all these dark things.”

People Happens Dark Everyday Things Happen Mexico Brutal Conquest Spain Dark Things Eyewitnesses

Author:Laila Lalami

“I began reading in French. I didn't read in English until high school.”

School Reading High School

Author:Laila Lalami

“Thing that was very different for me is that an American child's reading is filled with Americans.”

Children Different Reading Filled

Author:Laila Lalami

“When I was a child, I was reading books filled with people different from me, all French, all foreigners. There was a sense of disconnect between my sense of imagination and the world around me, which I don't think is common for Americans. It forces you to learn to look at the world through other people's eyes.”

People Thinking World Looks Children Book Different Eye Reading Force Imagination Common Filled Reading Books Foreigners

Author:Laila Lalami

“There is a insularity within American fiction even for adults. It's very tough for books in translation in the US.”

Book Fiction Adults Tough Translations Insularity

Author:Laila Lalami

“Few [books] get translated and the ones that do have trouble making it into the mainstream. It's more likely that Americans will discover another culture through an American writer rather read a writer from that culture.”

Book Culture Trouble Mainstream American Writer Trouble Making

Author:Laila Lalami

“The ones that were relevant while I wrote my book were books like "Beloved" by Toni Morrison, which is based on a historical fact, "Ragtime" by E.L. Doctorow, and "True History of the Kelly Gang" by Peter Carey.”

Book Facts Historical Beloved Relevant Peter Gang Historical Facts Ragtime

Author:Laila Lalami

“There are writers I return to no matter what I'm working on, writers like the South African J.M. Coetzee. He has an ability to make you feel that he is writing for you alone.”

Feels Writing Matter Ability Return No Matter What South South Africa Coetzee

Author:Laila Lalami

“I love James Baldwin essays, but also his novels. I recently read "Another Country." I couldn't believe how ahead of his time he was.”

Believe Country Novel Essays

Author:Laila Lalami

“Every book leaves its mark on you. It might leave you hungry for that kind of book or you may be satiated, and you're eager to read something else. It might send you in a completely different direction. I love that about reading.”

Kind May Book Different Might Reading Mark Hungry Different Directions

Author:Laila Lalami

“The universe had an odd sense of fairness; it took away things one did not want to give up, and then gave things one did not ask for.”

Want Giving Universe Asks Giving Up Odd Fairness

Author:Laila Lalami

“In some ways, I think it's the closest that we come to the truth — is in the form of fiction.”

Thinking Way Form Fiction Truth Is Closest

Author:Laila Lalami

“Historical novels, in particular, allow us to relive the past without the neatness of history, and with all the complexity of the present.”

Past Novel Particular Historical Complexity Neatness Historical Novels

Author:Laila Lalami

“Immigration, a lexicon. You're a 'migrant' when you're very poor; 'immigrant' when you're not so poor; and 'expat' when you're rich.”

Poor Rich Immigration Immigrants Migrants Lexicon Expats

Author:Laila Lalami

“No one wrote better about the sin of pride, the corruption of power and the redemption of love. I will miss you, Gabriel García Márquez.”

Sin Missing Pride Corruption Redemption Gabriel Sin Of Pride Will Miss You I Will Miss You Power Corruption

Author:Laila Lalami

About the Author

Born: 1968
Known for: Novelist
Quotes: 21

Books & Sources

Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in AmericaRelated source material

Hope And Other Dangerous PursuitsRelated source material

The Moor's AccountRelated source material

The Other AmericansRelated source material

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Laila Lalami Books

Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in A...

Hope And Other Dangerous Pursuits

The Moor's Account

The Other Americans

Related Quotes