Match BookConditional Citizens: On Belonging in America
Laila Lalami
2020 · 208 pages · Narrative nonfiction
How it reads
Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America is narrative nonfiction (political cultural criticism, specifically), and its dominant mood is melancholy. It's quietly sad, wistful and reflective. It's a slow burn: character-driven, with a payoff that comes from accumulation rather than twists. It rewards attention and suits unhurried reading more than five-minute gaps.
It's set in a big city setting, in the present day, told in the first person by a single narrator. Its central concerns are identity, class and society and justice. In weight it's heavy and literary — denser, more serious, and more demanding of you.
It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is left open, for you to argue about. At 208 pages it's a quick read. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.
Pick it up if…
- you're in the mood for something melancholy
- you have time to settle in
- you want something to chew on
Maybe not if…
- you need something funny or hopeful
- you're reading in five-minute gaps
All 15 dimensions
- Genre
- narrative nonfiction
- Author gender
- female
- Author experience
- established
- Setting: place
- big city
- Setting: time
- contemporary
- Mood / feeling
- melancholy
- Pace
- slow burn
- Tone / weight
- heavy and literary
- Length
- short
- Narrative style
- first person, one narrator
- Publication era
- recent
- Popularity
- moderately known
- Series vs standalone
- standalone
- Themes
- identity, class and society, justice
- Ending style
- ambiguous
What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.
Books with a similar reading
The closest books in Match Book's catalogue across the same dimensions, and what they share.
- The New MeHalle ButlerShares: melancholy mood, heavy and literary tone, slow burn, ambiguous ending
- Regretting MotherhoodOrna DonathShares: narrative nonfiction, melancholy mood, heavy and literary tone, ambiguous ending
- Between the World and MeTa-Nehisi CoatesShares: narrative nonfiction, heavy and literary tone, slow burn, ambiguous ending
- The Birth DearthBen J. WattenbergShares: narrative nonfiction, melancholy mood, heavy and literary tone, slow burn
- Dear Madam President: An Open Letter to the Women Who Will Run the WorldJennifer PalmieriShares: narrative nonfiction, heavy and literary tone, ambiguous ending, set in big city
- Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of AmericaSarah KendziorShares: narrative nonfiction, heavy and literary tone, ambiguous ending, set in big city
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