To say it simply, How It All Blew Up by Arvin Ahmadi, was a wonderfully constructed masterpiece.
This book tells the story of a boy, Amir, who is is fighting against the cultural norms set in by his family’s Persian traditions. Amir has spent his whole life “keeping score” of how his family reacts to people like him, taking note of their reactions and comments, and keeping a mental tally of pros and cons of coming out. However no matter how hard he tries, the numbers never add up in his favor.
So when a school bully corners him and threatens to out him to his family, Amir does what he has to do to survive...
He runs away to Rome.
While in Rome, he meets a group of wonderfully flamboyant guys who are everything he aspires to be, and luckily for him they take him under their wing and teach him everything he needs to know about boys, love and life.
And of course everything is fine and dandy, until it all blows up, and Amir and his family finds themselves in a U.S. Customs interrogation room where everything unfolds.
Everything about this book is incredible. From the underlying culture representation to try story of a young boy just trying to figure himself out away from a world of what is traditionally acceptable.
This book is an absolute must read.
This book tells the story of a boy, Amir, who is is fighting against the cultural norms set in by his family’s Persian traditions. Amir has spent his whole life “keeping score” of how his family reacts to people like him, taking note of their reactions and comments, and keeping a mental tally of pros and cons of coming out. However no matter how hard he tries, the numbers never add up in his favor.
So when a school bully corners him and threatens to out him to his family, Amir does what he has to do to survive...
He runs away to Rome.
While in Rome, he meets a group of wonderfully flamboyant guys who are everything he aspires to be, and luckily for him they take him under their wing and teach him everything he needs to know about boys, love and life.
And of course everything is fine and dandy, until it all blows up, and Amir and his family finds themselves in a U.S. Customs interrogation room where everything unfolds.
Everything about this book is incredible. From the underlying culture representation to try story of a young boy just trying to figure himself out away from a world of what is traditionally acceptable.
This book is an absolute must read.