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    You Exist Too Much: A Novel
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    You Exist Too Much: A Novel
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    You Exist Too Much: A Novel
    Ebook268 pages4 hours

    You Exist Too Much: A Novel

    By Zaina Arafat

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

  • This subversive debut follows a Palestinian-American woman existing at the intersection between cultural, religious, and sexual identities as she comes of age and comes out
  • Told in spare vignettes set in New York, Palestine, Italy, Jordan, and more, You Exist Too Much explores desire and betrayal, romance and addiction, and the process of healing from self-destructive cycles created through trauma
  • This book is for individuals who exist outside of the binary: those in between cultures, communities, sexualities, diagnoses. It's for first-generation and hyphenated-Americans, immigrants, members of the diaspora, and LGBTQ+ citizens, all of whom are too familiar with being told they're not enough of any one culture
  • Research indicates that bi and pansexual people are at a higher risk of suffering from mental illness due to biphobia and erasure; this novel highlights those unique challenges through the main character who grapples with her queer identity and a religious, conservative mother
  • The title also has a second, “hidden” meaning that refers to being Palestinian and the general condition of non-statehood and being from a country that has undergone an existential crisis for over 70 years, a country not seen as having a right to exist
  • Zaina Arafat is a first-generation Palestinian-American and multi-lingual writer who is widely connected and admired, and is a recipient of the inaugural Arab Women/Migrants from the Middle East fellowship at Jack Jones Literary Arts. Her work has been published in places like The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, BuzzFeed, VICE, and NPR. She teaches Middle East Politics for the school at the New York Times.
  • This novel was acquired by Catapult editor in chief Jonathan Lee, the editor of notable debuts such as Rough Magic and Welcome To Lagos

    "Wow. I couldn't put this down! As a queer femme, I am always eager to read realistic representations of queer people navigating the world, and You Exist Too Much did not disappoint! The characters felt so very real, I kept thinking about them even after I'd stopped reading for the night. Truly incredible character building! This book gave me all of the feelings. The operation of guilt and shame and the subconscious patterns in our lives and relationships is so elegantly crafted here, and so immensely relatable. Truly one of the best books I've ever read. It gave me a bit of a book hangover . . . as I didn't want to start another book right away as I always do . . . I wasn't ready to leave the world of You Exist Too Much. I can't wait to read more from Zaina Arafat!" —Meg Metcalf, Library of Congress (Washington, DC)

    "This book begins with a quote from my favorite book, which is a great way to start any new reading adventure, so I think one of the stars was earned by that fact alone. I don't know if it's that I'm coming off of reading several memoirs, but this book read like a memoir to me, so much so that I had to continually remind myself that it was not. Something about the sincerity of the narrator, the way she speaks of her relationships, just seemed genuine in a way fiction doesn't always. It was also nice to read something which deals with the mental and emotional health issues of people of color, which shouldn't be a revelation or relief, but is nonetheless. It was a refreshing, easy read which dealt with real issues, including eating disorders, codependency, addiction, recovery, immigration, queerness, and the general dissatisfaction and self-sabotage which can arise from any one of those realities. More than that though, it's about the possibilities of what comes after, without discounting what has come before." —Nadia Sahi, Rio Rancho Public Libraries (Rio Rancho, NM)

    "Arafat skillfully shows us how family and culture shape and affect our psyche even as we fight to be true to the inner self and desires that struggle to rise to the su

    • Editor's Note

    Captivating…

    When the narrator, a Palestinian American teenager living in Bethlehem, comes out to her mother as queer, her mother responds with the titular “You exist too much.” This is one of many poignant scenes in Zaina Arafat’s beautiful debut novel that deals with identity (cultural, religious, sexual) and how hard it can be to grow up no matter what your circumstances.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCatapult
    Release dateJun 9, 2020
    ISBN9781948226516

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    Reviews for You Exist Too Much

    4.5/5

    25 ratings2 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A story of identity, love and mental health. It did jump around a lot but there is a lot to think about and discuss.
    • 3/5
      A very capturing read though sometimes difficult to stomach. A pretty harrowing tale of finding yourself amidst all the trauma the narrator has endured. This book kind of hit home with me, with not being able to find that support from your family after coming out. One thing I didn’t particularly like was all the cheating, it just further ails the stereotype that bisexual people cheat a lot.