Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition go The Avid Reader.

Today our guest is Abdi Nor Iftin, author of Call Me American: A Memoir published just last week by Alfred Knopf.

This book is the story of a miracle, a series of miracles, set against a backdrop of pain, suffering and horror.

Abdi fell in love with America as a child. He learned English from Arnold Shwarzeneger and Michael Jackson, from Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone.

When the first waves of U.S. Marines landed, in Mogadishu to take on the cruel and lawless warlords, Abdi was one of the first to cheer the arrival of those heroes that he recognized from the movies.

He was wearing American clothes, knew American dance moves and even took on American as his surname.

Then, the Americans left, radical al-Shabaab took over and Western Culture was forbidden and things became deadly once again.

Abdi, through a series of fortuitous and incredible coincidences and twists of fates, made his way to America. It’s much more enlightening to hear how all this happened through his voice, so welcome Abdi and thanks so much for joining us today.