Impossible Man

In many ways, when I read a book by MMK, I see myself in the "characters". In The Taqwacores, I was Jehangir finding the religion that touched my heart and took me for the way that I am. I was Rabeya, minus the burka, crossing out the parts of the Quran that I couldn't reconcile withing myself. But, as I read, Impossible Man, I found that the parallels I found were not with a character in a story, but with the author himself.Close in age, I found the references in the book touching parts of my memory I had long forgotten. From watching wrestling, imagining myself as Jimmy Superfly Snuka flying off the top rope, to seeing Malcolm X and being confronted by ideas that had never entered my mind. I questioned much in my life growing up but never really had the guts to do anything about it. Reading Impossible Man gave me a chance, if even in a small way, to do that. His life, was harder than mine and I can feel the hurt and longing in the pages as I read them.It's easy to suggest this book, and I have, to someone that doesn't always feel right inside their own skin. You may find yourself hidden somewhere in Impossible Man.

Michael Muhammed Knight's memoir is a wonderful, fascinating read. The NYT heralded the book as `The Catcher in the Rye for Muslims,' but truthfully, the book is an entertaining yet thought-provoking coming-of-age story for people of any religious tradition, including those without organized faith at all. Far from simply being a `manifesto for the Islamic punk movement" (another quip from the Times), Impossible Man is the narrative of a young American man searching for an identity. Michael, Mikhail, Mike Schutt - these are just some of the names the protagonist dons - repeatedly throws himself headlong into new personas in a quest for... well, who knows. The book does not try to account for why the main character is at one point a precocious convert to Islam, at another point a rambunctious backyard wrestler, and at yet another point entranced by the babbles of his estranged schizophrenic father and then sent chasing the memory of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Dixieland. The protagonist as well as the reader is just along for the ride, meeting new personages current and historic, learning Arabic phrases, and exploring. And it's a beautiful ride with fine, almost-journalistic prose that becomes lyrical and contemplative near the end (perhaps too much so, given the prior 300 pages). All in all, I highly recommend this book.

I came upon this book randomly, as a new release at my library, and I've subsequently read everything else the author's written. He's an incredibly interesting guy, and his books are great points of access for understanding the complex reality of American Islam (and, I think, American religion in general). His books as a whole demonstrate the breadth of the influence of Islamic culture in the US, and he's somehow managed to show how Malcolm X, the GLBT rights movement, Radical Islam, and the Wu Tang Clan are inter-related and relevant for white trash trailer kids. He's a brilliant writer and this book in particular is alternately funny, tragic and surprising, and is consistently engaging. I think that this one and The Taqwacores are essential reading, and I'm constantly trying to convince my friends to stop reading that Oprah's book club crap and pick up some MMK. This one, I think, is the best place to start.

Not really having a particualr interest in wrestling, Islam and such Knight makes it interesting to read and makes me want to be more interested. A great story. It gives me further suspicion that great passions are what makes reading about peoples lives and the things in life so interesting. And Knights focused thoughtful intensity really brings that out in all the things he's interested in.

Epically engaging. It is the best story of ones life I have ever read, other than Malcom X's.I could not put it down. Mr. Knight writes with raw courage to tell him sincere and thought provoking story.Read it.