I really enjoyed the novel The Foghorn Echoes so I was really eager to read CROOKED TEETH: A Queer Syrian Refugee Memoir by Danny Ramadan and I loved this memoir! It’s one of my fave memoirs now. Ramadan shares his experiences growing up in Syria and finding Queer community. From living in Beirut and ultimately moving to Vancouver his journey had intense moments of violence and uncertainty and joys of friendships and intimacies. Ramadan’s talent as a writer shines as he tells his story on his own terms. This book took me through many emotions. I was reading it during my lunch break at work and when I read the part about his imprisonment I had to stop. That part was so raw and emotional and powerful. At the end of the book I was just casually bawling my eyes out. What a memoir!!! I loved the way he would talk directly to the reader and the way the fine craft of his writing puts me as the reader in his trusting words full of sincerity. I took this book to Davie Street where he mentions going to the Fountainhead Pub and seeing the opera singer at this intersection. I had the pleasure of attending last year’s Vancouver Writers Fest Incite event featuring Ramadan and hopefully I can see him again soon.

This was a phenomenal read. I am yet again blown away by Danny Ramadan's writing.

I love how this book starts, with Ramadan asking for the reader's trust; asking for us to trust that what he's telling us is his story, because that is really what a memoir is all about. I also loved that the intro/first chapter (I think I got a slightly bad ARC and chapters weren't really showing up) is extremely critical of white saviourism and racism within the literary world (and in the world in general).

The memoir follows Ramadan from his childhood in Damascus, with a mentally ill mother and an absent father, his move to Egypt for work, the Arab Spring and how that impacted on him, as a queer man on a temporary visa in Egypt. Then we are back in Damascus, finding the places that it is safe to be himself, until he is arrested by the Syrian police, which prompts his flee to Lebanon, and then to Canada.

What I really appreciated about this memoir is that Ramadan gives us exactly as much of himself as he can. I'm not sure that I've ever read a memoir that clearly lays out the author's boundaries like that; this is as much as I'm telling you and I'm not telling you more. I think there is this expectation of both authors and readers, when it comes to a memoir, that you're going to be giving/getting absolutely every single detail of that life. But really, what would reading about these incredibly traumatic events add to the story? It would just be trauma porn, and no one should be expected to give that of themselves if they don't feel safe doing so.

I also enjoyed that Ramadan broke the fourth wall to speak directly to the reader, to explain his choices at certain parts of the book; at the beginning when he's talking about trust, when he's describing his time in prison, when he first arrives in Canada. I appreciated his honesty and criticism of the process of coming to Canada; how sponsors are not adequately prepared, nor are the refugees, in terms of what to expect and how difficult it can be. I have read a couple of other memoirs by Syrian refugees, and they both ended in a very "I'm in Canada now and my life is 1000x better!" way, which I'm sure is accurate for some, but certainly not all, refugees.

I absolutely devoured this memoir and I highly recommend it. I can't wait to go back and read Ramadan's other books now (even the kids ones!).

I am so grateful to have read this remarkable memoir. After years of fiction writing, Danny Ramadan is now trusting us with his own story, as much as he is able. And what a privilege it is to read. He does not shy away from painful realities, equally he does not indulge the reader in the retelling of traumas one might expect from a book subtitled "a queer Syrian refugee memoir". Ramadan trusts himself enough to know when to pull back, and encourages the reader to trust him too.

I appreciate so much that he has shared these snippets of his life with us. And I hope the next chapters of his life are kind.