The Bad Muslim Discount: A Novel

Product Description

“Masood’s novel presents a stereoscopic, three-dimensional view of contemporary Muslim America: the way historical conflict in the Middle East lingers in individual lives, the way gossip travels in a close-knit immigrant community.” The New York Times Book ReviewFollowing two families from Pakistan and Iraq in the 1990s to San Francisco in 2016, The Bad Muslim Discount is an inclusive, comic novel about Muslim immigrants finding their way in modern America.

It is 1995, and Anvar Faris is a restless, rebellious, and sharp-tongued boy doing his best to grow up in Karachi, Pakistan. As fundamentalism takes root within the social order and the zealots next door attempt to make Islam great again, his family decides, not quite unanimously, to start life over in California. Ironically, Anvar’s deeply devout mother and his model-Muslim brother adjust easily to life in America, while his fun-loving father can’t find anyone he relates to. For his part, Anvar fully commits to being a bad Muslim.

At the same time, thousands of miles away, Safwa, a young girl living in war-torn Baghdad with her grief-stricken, conservative father will find a very different and far more dangerous path to America. When Anvar and Safwa’s worlds collide as two remarkable, strong-willed adults, their contradictory, intertwined fates will rock their community, and families, to their core.

The Bad Muslim Discount is an irreverent, poignant, and often hysterically funny debut novel by an amazing new voice. With deep insight, warmth, and an irreverent sense of humor, Syed M. Masood examines universal questions of identity, faith (or lack thereof), and belonging through the lens of Muslim Americans.

Amazon.com Review

Full of one-liners that will make you laugh out loud,
The Bad Muslim Discount is as funny as it is a serious commentary on immigration, racism, and just plain growing up. Bubbling with irreverence and small kindnesses, Masood tells the story of a young man and a young woman who each yearn for a wildly different life than what their devout parents want for them. Forces conspire to bring them together—but not in the way you think. An immensely satisfying read.
—Al Woodworth, Amazon Book Review

Review

“Masood offers sharp observations on religion, violence, and politics, and his clever choice to place the characters’ disparate experiences in parallel challenges Islamophobic stereotypes.”
The New Yorker

“Take it from a bad Jew, this is one of the bravest and most eye-opening novels of the year. Masood is a whiz at characters and knows the way the world works inside out. A future classic.” 
Gary Shteyngart, 
New York Times bestselling author of
 Lake Success“Masood’s novel presents a stereoscopic, three-dimensional view of contemporary Muslim America: the way historical conflict in the Middle East lingers in individual lives, the way gossip travels in a close-knit immigrant community.” 
The New York Times Book Review
“
The Bad Muslim Discount reads like a bingeable TV series — fast-paced and surprising at every turn. As the characters rebel, we root for them, eagerly hoping that they are able to build a life that’s true to them without losing everything they love.
” San Francisco Chronicle
“Perfect. . .I was torn between wanting to take my time to savor it, or just blazing through. This is a book that I didn’t know I deeply needed.”
Buzzfeed
“Syed M. Masood brings something new and necessary to the immigrant story: a sense of humor. Surprising, provocative, and damn funny, 
The Bad Muslim Discount is the story we always needed but never had.” 
Neel Patel, author of 
If You See Me, Don’t Say Hi: Stories 

“Masood’s compelling, provocative and hugely enjoyable tragicomedy explores crises of faith and issues of identity, and throws a new light on the immigrant experience.” 
The National“Masood’s purpose throughout the novel is to draw you deep into Anvar’s family world, not simply lampoon it — or, in Safwa’s case, righteously