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Title details for Manboobs by Komail Aijazuddin - Available

Manboobs

A Memoir of Musicals, Visas, Hope, and Cake

by Komail Aijazuddin
Komail Aijazuddin
Audiobook
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94 of 94 copies available
A blazing new talent's hilarious memoir about coming of age and coming out in Pakistan, moving to America, looking for love, and falling in love with himself along the way
What do you do when you're too gay for Pakistan, too Pakistani to be gay in America, and ashamed of your body everywhere? How can you find happiness despite years of humiliation, physical danger, and a legion of Brooklyn hipsters who know you only as a queer from Whereveristan? How do you summon the courage to be yourself no matter where you are?
Even as a young child in Lahore, Komail Aijazuddin knew he was different—no one else at his all-boys prep school was pirouetting off their desks, or being bullied for their "manboobs," or spontaneously bursting into songs from The Little Mermaid. Aijazuddin began to believe his only chance at a happy, meaningful life would be found elsewhere: America, the land of the free, the home of the gays. But the hostility of a post–9/11 world and society's rejection of his art, his desires, and his body would soon teach him that finding happiness takes a lot more than a plane ticket. Searching for his place between two worlds while navigating a minefield of expectations, prejudice, and self-doubt, Aijazuddin discovered—sometimes painfully, sometimes hilariously—that there are people and places he'd need to let go of to move forward.
Manboobs is a riotously funny memoir of searching for love, seamlessly blending humor, politics, pop culture, and the bravery required to be yourself. Aijazuddin confidently announces himself as an exciting new voice in humor with his moving and charming reexamination of the American dream and our search for home.
"Manboobs is an important story, told with a sharp wit and disarming humor. Aijazuddin has the ability to address difficult subjects with thoughtfulness and honesty, while also making you laugh out loud."—Moshin Zaidi, author of A Dutiful Boy

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 13, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9798892745505
      • File size: 217081 KB
      • Duration: 07:32:14

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from June 3, 2024
      In this sterling debut, painter Aijazuddin combines blazing wit with heartbreaking candor as he recounts his path toward self-acceptance as a gay Pakistani. Growing up in 1990s Lahore, Aijazuddin took an early shine to musicals, Disney princesses, and Barbie dolls, all while battling schoolyard insults about his weight and resulting “moon-tits.” As he realized he was gay, experimenting sexually with a friend and growing close with another closeted teen, Aijazuddin dreamed of escaping to comparatively liberal North America. Much of the memoir sees him ping-ponging between Pakistan, Canada, and the U.S.: he attended college in Montreal shortly after 9/11, where he faced xenophobia and struggled to come out of the closet, then returned to Pakistan, where his shame compounded. After obtaining a U.S. visa in 2015, he moved to New York City, where a series of relationships helped him learn to “stop loving in the shadows.” Aijazuddin’s prose is playful but sincere, marrying quips (“I was always a bird of paradise in a nest of sparrows”) with powerful insights (“Hyphens are the price of my admission through the gates of the American dream”). The result is a stirring account of coming-of-age and coming out. Agent: Sam Chidley, Karpfinger Agency. (Aug.)Correction: A previous version of this review misspelled the author’s last name.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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