Ep. 77: Syed M. Masood (Author of The Bad Muslim Discount) + Book Recommendations
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
Sarah Dickinson
4.9 • 732 Ratings
🗓️ 3 March 2021
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Episode 77, Syed M. Masood (author of The Bad Muslim Discount) joins me to talk about the evolution of The Bad Muslim Discount, writing about serious topics with humor, and what it’s like the publish 3 books in 18 months.
This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!).
Highlights
- Syed’s inspiration for The Bad Muslim Discount.
- How early drafts of the book were different from the final version.
- The spectrum of levels of devotion to the Muslim faith covered in the book.
- Syed’s literary hero.
- How he felt about using irreverent humor to talk about religion (and why he chose to do this).
- Whether Anvar and Amir’s parents and grandmother are based on his real life parents and grandmother.
- How Syed used the theme of destiny in the book.
- How the immigrant experience is a condensation of the broader human experience.
- His connection to the game of Checkers, which plays a role in the story.
- What it was like for Syed to publish 2 books (one adult and one YA) within 6 months of each other.
- The process differences between writing adult and YA.
Syed’s Book Recommendations [31:51]
Two OLD Books He Loves
- The Plotters by Un-Su Kim | Buy from Amazon
[32:03]
- My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [34:58]
Two NEW Books He Loves
- This Will Be Funny Someday by Katie Henry | Buy from Amazon [37:23]
- Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam | Buy from Amazon
One Book He DIDN’T LOVE
- I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes | Buy from Amazon [43:39]
One NEW RELEASE He’s Excited About
- Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri (May 4, 2021) | Buy from Amazon
[46:32]
Last 5 Star Book Syed Read [49:09]
- The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers | Buy from Amazon [49:09]
Other Books Mentioned
- The Bad Muslim Discount by Syed Masood | Buy from Amazon [0:41]
- More Than Just a Pretty Face by Syed M. Masood | Buy from Amazon [22:58]
- On Writing by Stephen King | Buy from Amazon [26:51]
- Sway With Me by Syed M. Masood (Coming Fall 2021) | Buy from Amazon [30:52]
- The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro | Buy from Amazon [40:48]
- Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri | Buy from Amazon [46:43]
- The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri | Buy from Amazon [47:02]
- Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [50:25]
About Syed
I grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, and currently live in Sacramento, California. There have been plenty of stops in between though. I’m a first generation immigrant, twice over. I’ve been a citizen of three different countries and lived in nine cities. I am, as Goethe, said, “nothing but a wanderer […] on this earth.”
Living among different people, in different countries at fascinating times in their histories, has shaped both my view of the world and my writing. Ultimately, human beings are the same everywhere (despite the fact that they tell themselves, everywhere, that they are different from each other), and the theme of this fundamental human unity informs everything I write.
As to my life outside of writing, I went to the William and Mary School of Law, and before that attended the University of Toronto, where I studied English Literature. I am currently practicing as an attorney and must “measure out my life in coffee spoons” on a daily basis.
Some members of my family will tell you that I’m also a poet. This isn’t true. I wrote a few poems in Urdu when I was a teenager, and I’ve never heard the end of it…which I wouldn’t mind, honestly, if they were any good. As it is, I’m very happy living in prose, thank you very much.
Other interests include good food, video games, sitcoms, and books of all kinds. Most of my time that doesn’t go to writing or billable hours is consumed by my two children, four and two years of age.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Sarah's Bookshelves Live. I'm Sarah of the blog Sarah's Bookshelves. Each week I'm |
| 0:15.5 | talking with one bookish guest about two old books they love, two new books they love, one book they don't love, and one new |
| 0:22.7 | release they're excited about. We're going to get real, and sometimes a bit snarky, about all |
| 0:27.9 | things books. If you like the show, I'd really love your support. Spread the word to your |
| 0:32.9 | reader friends, subscribe to the show, rate and review it wherever you listen to podcasts. Let's get rolling. |
| 0:40.3 | Hey everyone. I read a book called The Bad Muslim Discount, Syed Maseud's debut adult novel a couple weeks ago. |
| 0:47.7 | I absolutely loved his irreverent humor and that he laid this humor over top of a story that |
| 0:53.9 | deals with a number of really |
| 0:55.6 | serious issues like Islamophobia in the U.S. after 9-11, differences in sort of levels of |
| 1:03.0 | devoutness within the Muslim faith, sibling dynamics, the will to take control of your life, |
| 1:09.2 | and much more. He packed so many layers and themes into the |
| 1:12.1 | story, yet it did not feel cluttered, which I think was a big achievement. And I am thrilled |
| 1:17.6 | that Syed is joining me today. He grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, and currently lives in Sacramento, |
| 1:23.3 | California, with many stops in between. He has been a first generation immigrant twice, and he's been a |
| 1:29.4 | citizen of three different countries. He studied English literature at the University of Toronto, |
| 1:34.0 | and he attended law school at William and Mary, which is in my home state. And he is currently |
| 1:39.8 | a practicing attorney in Sacramento and has two young children. Welcome, Syed. Thank you so much for having |
| 1:45.3 | me. Well, I'm so happy to talk to you. And we were talking a little bit before we started recording |
| 1:51.4 | about sort of the process that you went through to write the book and how you felt about it. And I was |
| 1:57.4 | wondering if you could share that with us to get us started today. Sure, yeah. It was a book that I started writing mostly for myself. In the beginning, I was trying |
| 2:07.4 | to process the 2016 election and the lead up to it. I've never had any qualms about my |
| 2:15.1 | American identity, you know, sort of embraced it. Because I feel like you're |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Sarah Dickinson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Sarah Dickinson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.