Samir lives in France with his family but he’s always dreamt of going to the US, despite his father who hates Americans and is scared that he might have given his son ‘a taste for exile’. As an adult, Samir leaves for Los Angeles to teach sociology at the University of California. His dream comes true. But on the verge of Barack Obama’s election, everything isn’t perfect at Uncle Sam’s, especially for a Muslim… With his usual subtle but sharp humour, Azouz Begag takes his reader along on the journey of this teacher who would like to see America with child’s eyes but is confronted to a most unpleasant reality. After many setbacks, Samir finally gives up his American dreams to find himself at last.
With this book, which echoes Le Gone du Chaâba, Azouz Begag displays the paradoxes internal to the American society and confronts us to our own contradictions.
