I Will Greet the Sun Again

A Novel

by Khashayar J. Khabushani

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Pub Date Aug 01 2023 | Archive Date Nov 01 2023

Random House Publishing Group - Random House | Hogarth

LGBTQIAP+ | Literary Fiction | Multicultural Interest

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Description

“[A] masterful debut . . . a novel of survival and longing and love, and in many ways a modern portrait of an artist as a young man . . . a book written for us, we Iranian Americans whom you don’t often hear about.”—Porochista Khakpour, The Washington Post (Best Books of the Year)

“A triumph . . . a book of astonishing accomplishment and bravery.”—Dina Nayeri, The Guardian

Winner of the Alex Award from the American Library Association • Finalist for the California Book Award and the Lambda Literary Award

An Amerie’s Book Club Pick • A Phenomenal Book Club Pick

Growing up in the San Fernando Valley with his two brothers, all K wants is to be “a boy from L.A.,” all American. But K—the youngest, named after a Persian king—knows there’s something different about himself. Like the way he feels about his closest friend, Johnny, a longing that he can’t share with anyone.

At home, K must navigate another confusing identity: that of the dutiful son of Iranian immigrants struggling to make a life for themselves in the United States. He tries to make his mother proud, live up to her ideal of a son. On Friday nights, K attends prayers at the local mosque with Baba, whose violent affections distort K’s understanding of what it means to be a man and how to love.

When Baba takes the three brothers from their mother back to Iran, K finds himself in an ancestral home he barely knows. Returning to the Valley months later, K must piece together who he is, in a world that now feels as foreign to him as the one he left behind.

A stunning, tender novel of identity and belonging, I Will Greet the Sun Again tells the story of a young man lost in his own family, his own country, and his own skin. Staring down the brutality of being a queer kid and a Muslim in America, Khashayar J. Khabushani transforms personal and national pain into an unforgettable and beautifully rendered exploration of youth, love, family—and the stories that make us who we are.

Advance Praise

“I Will Greet The Sun Again is a moving debut, teeming with desire and light, and quietly devastating. Khabushani's voice keens and surprises, and at the center of the book, we find K, tenderhearted, spirit glowing like a beacon.”
—Justin Torres, author of WE THE ANIMALS

"Khashayar J. Khabushani's debut novel, devoted to adolescence in all its glory and devastation, is a marvel. Reading it, I felt the thrill and joy of encountering a major writer at the beginning of his career." —Megha Majumdar, author of A BURNING

“Why wasn’t I Will Greet the Sun Again around when I was ten, when I was twenty? This is a book I’ve dreamt of reading my whole life. How to mourn the loss of a country that has become unrecognizable, while living across the world in one that doesn’t recognize you? How to dismantle the brutal ways men teach each other to (not) love other men? What to do with the love you still feel, however guiltily, for those who treated you violently? I wish I’d had Khabushani’s clarified language for these questions to guide me when I was young. Better late than never, Khashayar J. Khabushani. I am jealous of the generation of people who will grow up in a world with I Will Greet the Sun Again in it. I will be thinking about these characters forever.” —Kaveh Akbar, author of PILGRIM BELL

“I Will Greet the Sun Again is a story for us brown kids who grew up in apartment complexes, making our own breakfast, lunch, and dinners because our immigrant parents were away at work. It takes us into the private kingdom of three siblings—don’t be fooled by the perceived lack of material things, the book’s heart-wrenching prose uncovers the jewels that lie beneath a never-ending hustle to make it to the next day. Khabushani’s voice is a revelation, he’s written a novel that shows what it means to grow up into a beautiful young man.” —Javier Zamora, New York Times bestselling author of SOLITO

“ I Will Greet the Sun Again is exquisite, heart-breaking, incredibly beautiful. The whole narrative thrums with a bright, warm longing. You can feel the sunshine of LA and Iran, the rhythm of Khashayar J. Khabushani’s voice. This is a novel to return to again and again.” —Caleb Azumah Nelson, award-winning author of OPEN WATER

“Khashayar J. Khabushani has taken a coming-of-age story and flooded it with light. His sentences are as delicate as ripe berries, yet the voice manages to be intrepid, determined and clear. This is a gorgeous and wrenching debut from a writer I'll be following for many years to come.” —Catherine Lacey, author of NOBODY IS EVER MISSING

"A work of meticulous care and genuine candor, one that shies away from no earthly event, yet spiritually soars. To read it is to experience the contradictions of the weighty and the exalted, to witness a self forged by both brutality and love. Khabushani is a poetic visionary, as generous as he is brave." —Heidi Julavits, author of THE FOLDED CLOCK and THE VANISHERS

“Deeply moving and courageous, I Will Greet the Sun Again explores the sense of loss and violence inherent in the immigrant experience. An intimate and unflinching story about the ways in which we hurt each other and how we all need love and acceptance to survive.” —Sahar Delijani, author of CHILDREN OF THE JACARANDA TREE

"A tender, heartbreaking portrait of a sweet child living in a broken world. Khabushani is an incredibly talented writer." —Imbolo Mbue, author of BEHOLD THE DREAMERS and HOW BEAUTIFUL WE WERE

“I Will Greet The Sun Again is a moving debut, teeming with desire and light, and quietly devastating. Khabushani's voice keens and surprises, and at the center of the book, we find K...