Driss’ investment in the American Dream as the narrative of his life allows him to see himself as truly American even though the society continually views him as foreign and other. The narrative makes him a part of American society in a way that he race cannot. His success was a byproduct which he later assembled into a convenient narrative.

Driss did not move to America specifically because of the American Dream. Financial Times What a monumental challenge it is to reveal the state of America, to assert what unites and divides us-and what remarkable insight Lalami demonstrates by doing just that. On the surface, Driss fits the model perfectly though the ideal is somewhat retrofitted. The Other Americans confirms Lalamis reputation as one of the countrys most sensitive interrogators, probing at the fault lines in family, and the wider world. Against her remote California landscape rendered with heat and intrigue and a sense of yearning displacement Lalami captures various. Join our online book group on Facebook at FTBooksCafe. Nora suggests that Driss saw his own life as a fitting example of the American Dream: a young immigrant family arrive in America, build a business from nothing, and become wealthy enough to send their two successful daughters to college. In The Other Americans, crime breeds clarity. The Other Americans, by Laila Lalami, Bloomsbury, RRP£16.99/Pantheon, RRP25.95, 320 pages. The American Dream is a longstanding cultural tradition in the United States which suggests that hard work and dedication can help any suitably ambitious person become rich, successful, and a winner. The plot revolves around the family’s deceased patriarch, Driss, who was killed in a hit-and. Whereas her previous novels featured stories that unfolded at least partially in Morocco, The Other Americans follows members of the Moroccan diaspora as they make a home in California.

Nora tells Coleman that her father believed in the American Dream. The Other Americans is Laila Lalami’s fourth full-length novel.

The Other Americans by Laila Lalami