This inspiring memoir by the Muslim American Gold Star father and captivating DNC speaker is the story of one family’s pursuit of the American dream. NAMED ONE OF THE FIVE BEST MEMOIRS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST “Moving . . . a story about family and faith, told with a poet’s sensibility . . . Khizr Khan’s book can teach all of us what real American patriotism looks like.” —The New York … American patriotism looks like.” —The New York Times Book Review
In fewer than three hundred words, Khizr Khan electrified viewers around the world when he took the stage at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. And when he offered to lend Donald Trump his own much-read and dog-eared pocket Constitution, his gesture perfectly encapsulated the feelings of millions. But who was that man, standing beside his wife, extolling the promises and virtues of the U.S. Constitution?
In this urgent and timeless immigrant story, we learn that Khizr Khan has been many things. He was the oldest of ten children born to farmers in Pakistan, and a curious and thoughtful boy who listened rapt as his grandfather recited Rumi beneath the moonlight. He was a university student who read the Declaration of Independence and was awestruck by what might be possible in life. He was a hopeful suitor, awkwardly but earnestly trying to win the heart of a woman far out of his league. He was a brilliant and diligent young family man who worked two jobs to save enough money to put himself through Harvard Law School. He was a loving father who, having instilled in his children the ideals that brought him and his wife to America—the sense of shared dignity and mutual responsibility—tragically lost his son, an Army captain killed while protecting his base camp in Iraq. He was and is a patriot, and a fierce advocate for the rights, dignities, and values enshrined in the American system.
An American Family shows us who Khizr Khan and millions of other American immigrants are, and why—especially in these tumultuous times—we must not be afraid to step forward for what we believe in when it matters most.
Praise for An American Family
“An American Family is a small but lovely immigrant’s journey, full of carefully observed details from the order in which Ghazala served tea at a university event, to the schedule of the police patrols in the Boston Public Garden where Khan briefly slept while he was in between apartments, to the description of Humayun’s headstone as a ‘slab of white marble with soft streaks the color of wood smoke.’”—Alyssa Rosenberg, The Washington Post
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A beautiful love letter to the American dream. The story of the promise America holds in the mind of immigrants and how as imperfect as it is there are still great examples of how the ideals it stands for can overcome its faults.
It was so refreshing to read a positive view of our country and be reminded of all the things we take for granted as Americans. I am amazed at the author’s determination to maintain his integrity in a country where it would have been easier to follow the cultural main. He worked so hard for everything he received in his home country and the United States. Love of country and love for family shone throughout this memoir.
A great insight into the American character and the impact of immigrants into our country. A must-read for all Americans.
A reminder about the importance of liberty, freedom and honor. The reason most immigrants arrive in the USA is a believe in the inherent goodness of man, the opportunity to improve their lives, and that options maybe available for them. Khan and his family walked the walk.
This is a wonderful American story of a stellar family.
Please read what the idea of America means to immigrants. Read how our Bill of Rights and other founding document inspire people of all cultures across the earth. Find out how and why this man came into prominence in the 2016 election. This man is not bitter at the cruelty of the man appointed by Putin to be in our White House. He is not bitter at the many MAGAs who attacked him and hit family. This man lost his beloved son serving in the US Armed Forces. He is a Gold star father. His son did not find a doctor to right him a phony bone spur excuse to get out of service to his country. His son served and his son died. I am too angry here. I am embarrassed for our country. We are not worthy of men like this author. One of my ancestors landed at Plymouth Rock just four years after the Mayflower. My roots go deep on this continent. But I have a true sense of shame about where we are now. This man wrote an entire book without expressing any of the bitterness I have just exposed in myself. So proud this man chose our country to join. I hope more like his will come here.
This book should be read by everyone. It should be required reading in schools. I couldn’t put it down and plan to read it again in the near future. It is a love story to all people and to our country.
Example portrays an image of a majority of immigrants in US. Better informed and apprentice of all this country has to offer and thankfulness for their freedom.
I know this to be true because my father was an immigrant and my neighborhood in Brooklyn was majority immigrant.
This book was a reminder that America never had to be made great again, it never stopped being great. Every American should read this book. What a wonderful American family.
This book captures what it means to be an American, upholding and defending the values set forth in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Thoughtful and inspirational.
I loved this inspirational book about a search for a better life. Beautifully written.
This is one of the best books I’ve read this year. Khizr Khan’s story begins with how he grew up in Pakistan with almost no knowledge of the United States. The scene as a college student when he first saw a copy of The Declaration of Independence and the stunning effect it had on him gave me goosebumps. From that point on I found it difficult to put this book down. Khan’s writing is concise but evocative. He puts the reader into his story. Read this book. You won’t be sorry.
Well written and an excellent look at life as an immigrant. The author gives us a new appreciation for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution since he grew up with none of the freedoms we have. The part about the loss of their son was heart rendering. I would be proud to have this family as neighbors.
This book told me a lot about what happened in the nineteen thirties and forties in far-flung parts of the world. The insight into life in Japan at that time was something I had never come across elsewhere. Read with an atlas at hand.