{"product_id":"no-god-but-us-a-novel-isbn-9780063419469","title":"No God but Us: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA Most Anticipated Read: \u003ci\u003ethem\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSheReads\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDaily Kos\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDebutiful\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMizna\u003c\/i\u003e, and\u003ci\u003e LGBTQ Reads\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e Writer to Watch\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“An exhilarating debut from a writer whose work I’ll always want to read.” —R.O. KWON\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn this wry, provocative debut, two gay Afghan men—cast out of their respective countries of birth by circumstances beyond their control—collide in Istanbul, a city that will test their willingness to sacrifice everything for the ones they love.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Delbar—a hapless twenty-something with dreams of becoming a drag queen—is spectacularly outed, he flees the insular immigrant-dense suburbs of Washington, DC to seek refuge with his sympathetic aunt in Istanbul. There, he discovers a vibrant community of dissidents, sex workers, activists, poets, and heretics. Among them are Leif and his boyfriend, Mansur, with whom Delbar quickly develops a blazing fascination.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut Mansur also nurses a wounded heart, having left his own family, and his first love, behind in Iran. This time, Mansur’s learned not to dream bigger than his own survival. He’ll keep a low profile, work hard to send money back, and remain faithful to Leif—at least until his refugee status is granted.\u003cbr\u003eWhen riot police descend on attendees of the annual Istanbul Pride march, Mansur and Delbar are thrust into dangerous proximity. With the country surging into authoritarianism, each person must ask themselves: \u003ci\u003ewhat constitutes a life well-lived, and how high is the price of freedom?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTold through the alternating viewpoints of Delbar and Mansur, Bobuq Sayed’s debut is a story of borders and boundaries transgressed, and a seductive exploration of what it means to make a home at the margins of society. At once an immigrant family saga, a thwarted love story, and a searing portrait of politics made intimately personal, No God but Us is an ambitious introduction to a bold new voice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e“A new kind of novel, with vast geographies of nation and heart.” —SARAH SCHULMAN\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This is a story alive to contradiction—ferocious in its longing, unsparing in its honesty, and deeply attuned to the ways love and belief survive their own undoing.” —GARRARD CONLEY\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I feel lucky to count this story among my literary kin.\" —ARIA ABER\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“[An] impressive debut . . . Sayed skillfully balances the personal with the political.\"  \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“In a powerful debut, Bobuq Sayed reveals how forces of rejection from state and family meet the alchemy of attraction, desire, and belonging. \u003ci\u003eNo God but Us\u003c\/i\u003e not only expands American literature, but also Muslim, gay male, and migration writing. A new kind of novel, with vast geographies of nation and heart.” \u003cb\u003e—Sarah Schulman, author of\u003ci\u003e The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Audacious, propulsive, and tender-hearted, \u003ci\u003eNo God but Us\u003c\/i\u003e explores the bonds we create and destroy around love, desire, country, and community with startling honesty. Pulsing with hope, desire, and fury, Bobuq Sayed boldly interrogates the sacrifices one must make to live according to the truth of the human heart. A simply dazzling and unforgettable debut.” \u003cb\u003e—Patricia Engel, author of \u003ci\u003eInfinite Country \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Faraway World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I can’t remember the last time I was so moved by a book. Bobuq Sayed’s \u003ci\u003eNo God but Us \u003c\/i\u003easks what might happen to one's consciousness when it's mangled by the forces of empire. The deeply felt and irreverent story traces two Quixotic journeys through personal pain, faith, exile, and queer self-discovery, all the way from the Afghan refugee community in Tehran to the suburbs of Northern Virginia. At its heart, this is a novel about family—chosen and not—and I am lucky to count this story among my literary kin. This book is simply necessary, and very gorgeous.” \u003cb\u003e—Aria Aber, author of \u003ci\u003eGood Girl\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eNo God but Us\u003c\/i\u003e is a bold, tender novel about queer kinship and the fragile architectures of faith. Bobuq Sayed moves between voices and continents with rare confidence, tracing how exile and desire shape who we become. This is a story alive to contradiction—ferocious in its longing, unsparing in its honesty, and deeply attuned to the ways love and belief survive their own undoing.” \u003cb\u003e—Garrard Conley, author of\u003ci\u003e Boy Erased\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eAll the World Beside\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eNo God but Us\u003c\/i\u003e moves beyond the family’s carbon copy dedication to the state, threading a spate of overburdened needles between necessity and promise, romance and desire, and ultimately returns us, with impressive grace and compassion, to one of fiction’s central concerns, our attempts to imagine formative change within and outside ourselves, always against the banal expectations of power.” \u003cb\u003e—Joseph Earl Thomas, author of \u003ci\u003eSink \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eGod Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eNo God but Us\u003c\/i\u003e is a polyphonic dream of a novel that spans borders, language, and time, with rich, lyrical prose that brings to life the harrowing journeys of its protagonists. Sayed captures with beauty and tremendous dignity the pains of dislocation and hierarchy, in the process gifting us a work that has been sorely missing from the queer and literary canons.”  \u003cb\u003e—Alejandro Varela, author of \u003ci\u003eMiddle Spoon \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Town of Babylon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“…[an exploration of] freedom and authoritarianism from a new voice in fiction.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eShe Reads\u003c\/i\u003e, “Traci Thomas’ Most Anticipated Books of 2026”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I received a PDF of this months and months ago and can’t stop thinking about it. It moved me to my core. Sayed’s emotional intelligence provides a strong backbone to a tender story.” \u003cb\u003e—Debutiful, “The Most Anticipated Debut Books of 2026, Part One”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“One of my personal most eagerly anticipated books of 2026, Bobuq Sayed’s debut novel follows two gay Afghan men whose lives intertwine in a shared exile in Istanbul, and who must navigate the antagonisms of many states and oppressive forces that shape their lives. Sayed’s writing is vibrant, hilarious, and sharply critical, presenting a rich and real set of characters reeling across the world. I can’t wait to see this book get the readership it deserves!” \u003cb\u003e—Mizna, “30 New SWANA Books to Read in 2026”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Desire, belonging and sacrifice knot tight. Sensual, political and beautifully wrought. Controversial themes that challenge the stereotypes.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Australian\u003c\/i\u003e, “Most Anticipated Books of 2026”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Impish, irreverent, deeply felt, and deadly serious, Bobuq Sayed's \u003ci\u003eNo God but Us\u003c\/i\u003e is a novel that stays in the body long after its final page has turned. This is a book unafraid; Sayed gives us raucous laughs and strutting truths, intimate portraiture of queer Afghan diaspora, anti-imperial clarity, fun, and pleasure. \u003ci\u003eNo God but Us\u003c\/i\u003e is a tessellation of borders and longings, love and danger\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003eand in that sense it is like life itself, revealed to us, made a little new.” \u003cb\u003e—Sarah Thankam Mathews, author of \u003ci\u003eAll This Could Be Different\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Extraordinarily moving, astute, and often very funny, \u003ci\u003eNo God but Us \u003c\/i\u003eis an exhilarating debut from a writer whose work I’ll always want to read.” \u003cb\u003e—R. O. Kwon, author of \u003ci\u003eExhibit \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Incendiaries \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Mischievous and assured, writing across faith, exile, and desire, Sayed brings wit, nerve, and a novelist’s instinct for where the sacred and the profane most fruitfully collide. A brilliantly subversive book.” \u003cb\u003e—Zain Khalid, author of \u003ci\u003eBrother Alive\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48588028018917,"sku":"NP9780063419469","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780063419469.jpg?v=1773960751","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/no-god-but-us-a-novel-isbn-9780063419469","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}