Dinaw Mengestu's Novel 'Quelqu'un comme nous' Explores Immigration and the American Dream

Dinaw Mengestu's fourth novel, 'Quelqu'un comme nous,' published in English in 2024 and now in French translation by Éditions Albin Michel, continues his focus on immigration. The book features protagonists Mamush and Samuel, Ethiopian immigrants navigating identity and exclusion in America. Mengestu, who teaches at Bard's Center for Ethics and Writing, spent a decade writing this work, which blends autofiction with a fragmented, postmodern structure. The title references Susan Sontag's essay 'Devant la douleur des autres.' Barack Obama included it in his essential reading list. Characters grapple with political promises versus daily reality, described as 'forgotten by the American dream.' Mengestu critiques persistent societal contempt toward immigrants, noting exclusionary policies fuel his characters' trauma. The narrative spans America, Paris, and Ethiopia, employing non-linear chronology. He rejects simplistic political manifestos, advocating for complex literary engagement with global issues like migration.