In Jarrar’s new book (a memoir), Trump’s rise to power is an undercurrent as, in over more than 200 pages, across decades, time zones, and borders, Jarrar explores what it is to live as an American who is also Palestinian, a woman, and a woman of a certain size who also self-defines as queer. We can all learn a lot from Jarrar: about racism, privilege, oppression, fat-phobia, sexual violence, and the way this country (and others) treats women. Trump has shown himself to be the monster many of us already knew he was, but he is not the only monster. Jarrar is unsparing in her critique of her ex-husbands, her father, and the systems of power that create and enable violent men.

Jarrar is a propulsive writer, and the pieces amassed here are chaotic and exuberant, defiant and introspective, carnal and somewhat uneven.

In this cutting and triumphant memoir-in-essays, Jarrar lays bare her continuing fight for validation and love in a world unused to celebrating people that look and think like her.

From the beginning, we plunge into Jarrar’s punchy colloquialism and narrative prowess. There is a cheeky playfulness to her writing, a brash humor that forces us to bear witness to the people and experiences that are erased, like a 'magic trick'.

A Palestinian American writer and creative writing professor transforms a road trip into an occasion for reflections about her identity and past.