The Ungrateful Refugee

What Immigrants Never Tell You

By: Dina Nayeri

Narrated by: Dina Nayeri

What is it like to be a refugee? It is a question many of us do not give much thought to, and yet there are more than 25 million refugees in the world.

Aged eight, Dina Nayeri fled Iran along with her mother and brother and lived in the crumbling shell of an Italian hotel-turned-refugee camp. Eventually, she was granted asylum in America. She settled in Oklahoma, then made her way to Princeton University. In this book, Nayeri weaves together her own vivid story with the stories of other refugees and asylum seekers in recent years, bringing us inside their daily lives and taking us through the different stages of their journeys, from escape to asylum to resettlement. In this book, a couple falls in love over the phone, women gather to prepare noodles that remind them of home, a closeted queer man tries to make his case truthfully as he seeks asylum, and a translator attempts to help new arrivals present their stories to officials.

Nayeri confronts notions like “the swarm”, and, on the other hand, “good” immigrants. She calls attention to the harmful way in which Western governments privilege certain dangers over others. With surprising and provocative questions, The Ungrateful Refugee challenges us to rethink how we talk about the refugee crisis.

©2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC (P)2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC

The author does a great job at sharing an untold side if the refugee experience.

Her voice sometimes was hard to follow. I get that she was trying to be her authentic self, but it could have been more polished a bit.

Refugee who finally found her voice in a book!

As a refugee, I have read many books on the immigration and refugees and many more related subjects. This book by Dina Nayeri, although hard to read/listen to for me, was the most honest. I am grateful for where I am, but I am coming from much more than just you see in my history and I could see every step of my feelings in this book. I became a refugee in 21 but the combination of Dina and her mom and grandmother is what I call mine!

Refugee experiences through an intersectional lens

This book could serve as a manual for policy makers and international organizations and agencies.

Work of art

Found ‘Refuge’ at a thrift store and loved it. Dina Nayeri became my new favorite author with that book. I was thrilled to find her on hear and be able to listen to her story in her own words really changes the experience of taking in this book. I don’t retain as much with the audio version unfortunately but hearing her smiling in parts I can’t help but smile too and hearing sadness in her voice in parts was gut wrenching. Also liked that I got to hear the correct pronunciation of a couple words I wasn’t sure about Farsi words in particular. I already preordered “who gets believed” I’ll be hungry for everything Dina puts out

Lots of touching vignettes

Dina Nayeri definitely has stories to tell. But I was looking for something I could follow. And although I usually like to hear a book read by its author, I found her voice, all I can think of is tiring. It was not a book I enjoyed listening to. But I listening to all of it because I wanted to hear what she had to say, and it was not insignificant.

Awesome book

Loved the narration and story very well written I had to read for a class.

Read After Reading “Everything Sad is Untrue”

I downloaded The Ungrateful Refugee after reading and loving her brother’s book, Everything Sad is Untrue. Dina and Daniel Nayeri have the same story, but 2 completely different retelling and memories of their path and experiences. I recommend both books! While Daniel’s is literary and unfolds like a movie, Dina’s is logical and not only features her own refugee story, but also the experiences of other refugees and their hardships. This is a book that really hones in on the struggles of immigrants and the huge flaws of the immigration system in general. I also recommend listening to this book because it was narrated by the author, and I thought she did a great job!

Amazing story of resilience and compassion

Nayeri’s book is incredibly thoughtful and moving in giving voice, both figuratively and literally with her performance, to an essential topic that ALL Americans need to understand!

Worth the read.

The narration was a little difficult to initially get into but overall the story was worth it. As an immigrant, there were many times when this book hit home a little too hard. And that's not a bad thing.

Everyone should read !!

I wish that Dina’s interpretation of how people really feel and of how we make others feel could be an enlightening explanation to all people . Then the only rule that would rule is the Golden Rule!