But You Don't Look Arab

And Other Tales of Unbelonging

By: Hala Gorani

Narrated by: Hala Gorani

Emmy Award-winning international journalist Hala Gorani weaves stories from her time as a globe-trotting anchor and correspondent with her own lifelong search for identity as the daughter of Syrian immigrants.

What is it like to have no clear identity in a world full of labels? How can people find a sense of belonging when they have never felt part of a “tribe?” And how does a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman who’s never lived in the Middle East honor her Arab Muslim ancestry and displaced family—a family forced to scatter when their home country was torn apart by war?

Hala Gorani’s path to self-discovery started the moment she could understand that she was “other” wherever she found herself to be. Born of Syrian parents in America and raised mainly in France, she didn’t feel at home in Aleppo, Seattle, Paris, or London. She is a citizen of everywhere and nowhere. And like many journalists who’ve covered wars and conflicts, she felt most at home on the ground reporting and in front of the camera.

As a journalist, Gorani has traveled to some of the most dangerous places in the world, covering the Arab Spring in Cairo and the Syrian civil war, reporting on suicide bombers in Beirut and the chemical attacks in Damascus, watching the growth of ISIS and the war in Iraq—sometimes escaping with her life by a hair. But through it all, she came to understand that finding herself meant not only looking inward, but tracing a long family history of uprooted ancestors. From the courts of Ottoman Empire sultans through the stories of the citizens from her home country and other places torn apart by unrest, But You Don’t Look Arab combines Gorani’s family history with rigorous reporting, explaining—and most importantly, humanizing—the constant upheavals in the Middle East over the last century.

Critic reviews

“Full of vivid firsthand accounts of some of the definitive stories of our time, and probing questions about how identity informs our telling and understanding of them. Gorani writes with grace, compassion, humor, and absolute sincerity—a rare combination in broadcast journalism. A gem of a book.”—CLARISSA WARD, chief international correspondent, CNN

“But You Don’t Look Arab could be But You Don’t Look Muslim, Christian, Jewish, American. It speaks to anyone who has felt the need to look a certain way, to fit in, to adjust to others’ expectations. Gorani’s deep words and captivating storytelling hit these ideas home every time. Should be added to our immigration application kit!”—BASSEM YOUSSEF, comedian, author, and television host

“I didn’t think it was possible to admire Hala Gorani more until I read But You Don’t Look Arab—a tender, searching, honest account of her quest to understand the nuances of identity in a world that seeks to put her in a box.”—LAUREN COLLINS, The New Yorker

Relatable

Relatable and on point for all nomads, immigrants and refugees alike. Hala’s stories show that the female experience is virtually the same, across cultures and countries. Highly recommend!

Finding where you belong. There are people through out the whether misplaced or not who are looking for belonging.

Hala held my interest In between telling her personal stories and intertwining the happenings of war. I loved the fact that she read the book out loud it made it very authentic. .

Great read!!

This is an amazing life story. It is a tale of a rich lived experience and brings together the bigger picture of politics and culture.

The book's title captivated me.

On a personal level, I'm a light skinned Black woman. Most of my life people are surprised to learn I'm African American. Or as my birth certificate states 'Negro.' So I imagined Hala Gorani's book would be about her experiences as an Arab who looks like she might come from Sweden. How did people react to her when they learned she's Arab? Did she experience any discrimination because she's Arab when people presumed she was a mainstream Christian or Jewish blonde hair blue eyed American? How did she handle crude comments made in front of her when people don't realize she's Arab? Instead, the book is loaded with examples of how she worked hard to be recognized for her reporting skills at CNN. She worked very hard to prove herself. But there's no meat on the bones describing her personal life. In fact... ever so briefly... she tells us about getting married. But we know next to nothing about her husband other than he's a cameraman she met on a shoot. I also work as a TV journalist. So much of Hala's work complaints resonated with me. But that's not why I wanted to learn more about her. She's an excellent journalist. But if this is a memoir ... don't expect to learn much about her personal life choices.