The Good Immigrant - Hardcover

Nikesh Shukla is a writer whose debut novel Coconut Unlimited (Quartet Books) was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award 2010 and longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2011. In 2011 he co-wrote with Kieran Yates an essay about the London riots, Generation Vexed: What the Riots Don't Tell Us About Our Nation's Youth (Random House). In 2013 he released The Time Machine (Galley Beggars Press), a novella about food which won Best Novella at the Sabotage Awards. His second novel, Meatspace, was published by The Friday Project, his short stories have featured in numerous anthologies and magazines, and he has previously been writer in residence for BBC Asian Network and Royal Festival Hall. In 2014 he co-wrote Two Dosas, an award-winning short film starring Himesh Patel. His Channel 4 Comedy Lab Kabadasses aired on E4 and Channel 4 in 2011 and starred Shazad Latif, Jack Doolan and Josie Long. He currently hosts The Subaltern podcast, an anti-panel discussion featuring conversations with writers about writing. Guests have included Zadie Smith, Junot Diaz, Teju Cole, James Salter, George Saunders, Jennifer Egan, Evie Wyld, Sam Bain, Alex Preston, Colson Whitehead and more. He also co-hosts a podcast with sci-fi writer James Smythe, Meat Up, Hulk Out.

"The Good Immigrant is a lively and vital intervention into the British cultural conversation around race. Instead of statistics and dogma we find real human experience and impassioned argument - and it's funny and moving, too. A must read!" -- Zadie Smith "The stories are sometimes funny, sometimes brutal, always honest ... if I could, I'd push a copy of this through the letter box of every front door in Britain." * Independent * "Highly recommended ... It's precisely those who might at first think this book is not about us, who should read it" * Spectator * "Perceptive, touching and funny" * Observer * "An important, timely read." -- J. K. Rowling "Amazing voices ... searingly honest" * Grazia * "We should recognise both the courage that has been shown in producing these essays and the contradictions that necessarily exist across them ... The Good Immigrant helps to open up a much-needed space of unflinching dialogue about race and racism in the UK" * Guardian * "To say the publication of The Good Immigrant has come at a good time would be an understatement ... If 2016 has left you feeling helpless, desperately wondering what you can do to repair the damage of anti-immigration rhetoric, then reading it would be a good place to start: it leaves you feeling armed with empathy." * Vice * "An act of peaceful defiance; as a document of the now, and as an opportunity to educate ourselves about the lives and experiences of others." * Guardian * "Powerful... The Good Immigrant is a reminder of why Britain is at its best when it lifts the burden of the "bad immigrant" and why it loses so much when it lets it grow" * New Statesman * "Superlative." -- Jessie Burton, 'Best Books of 2016' * Observer * "Could not be more timely." -- Louise Daughty, 'Best Books of 2016' * Observer * "The Good Immigrant is that rarest of beasts, a truly necessary book." -- Jonathan Coe, 'Best Books of 2016' * Observer * "I was deeply affected by The Good Immigrant, a vital and often bitingly funny series of personal essays" -- James Graham, 'Best Books of 2016' * Observer * "Should become required reading for a new UK citizenship test - one to be taken by everyone who was born here, that is." -- Books of the Year * Times Higher Education * "A fascinating read" * BBC Breakfast * "I was expecting something serious, even upsetting. The Good Immigrant is both at times, but the 21 essays are also engrossing, human and hilarious." -- Best Books for Christmas * i * "Sticks two fingers up at a discriminatory publishing industry." * New Statesman * "The essays, in turns witty, uncomfortable and inspiring, would make for great reading at any time, but were especially welcome this year." -- Books of the Year * The Pool * "Existentially challenging to the status quo. It could not be more timely." -- Readers' Books of 2016 * Guardian * "What a phenomenal book: timely, poignant and insightful. It deserves to be read as widely as possible." -- Malorie Blackman "Warm, funny and often moving. A delight." -- Shappi Khorsandi "Quite simply a wonderful antidote to the tired cliches." -- Fatima Manji, Channel 4 News "A bold, beautiful and urgent book that should be read widely in these politically and racially charged times. It opened my eyes so much, and, in my opinion, is the most exciting publication of 2016." -- Holly Muller * Big Issue * "I am stupidly grateful for this book. It opened my eyes to my own experience and gave me words for feelings I had known but never acknowledged. I carry it with me whenever I travel, to remind me that the world is good. Buy this book, carry it with you everywhere, give it to everyone you know. We need it now more than ever." -- Emmy the Great "Here are a bunch of brave writers actually doing something about representation ... an important book." -- Sathnam Sanghera "Incisive, funny, searingly honest ... it contains work that should be read by all." -- DJ Nihal "Brilliant, uncliched, unique. A book of our time, which everyone must read." -- Shazia Mirza "I want everyone to read this book. I found myself nodding along, feeling the pain, hilarity and anger." -- Anita Rani "The Good Immigrant's strength not only comes in its numbers, but through the uniqueness of each essay inside, ranging from Coco Khan's look at sexuality and fetishisation, through to Riz MC's retelling of his typical treatment in airport security." * Complex *