An Iraqi in Paris
SynopsisPlot
An Iraqi in Paris by Samuel Shimon is a semi-autobiographical novel following an Iraqi man’s journey from his homeland to Paris in pursuit of his dream to become a filmmaker. Blending humor, hardship, and nostalgia, the book portrays exile, resilience, and the enduring power of hope amid displacement and cultural alienation.
Story
About this book
An Iraqi in Paris is a semi-autobiographical novel by Samuel Shimon about a young Iraqi writer who leaves his homeland with the ambition of becoming a Hollywood filmmaker. His plans do not unfold as expected. Instead of reaching the film industry, he ends up living as a refugee in Paris, sleeping in a metro station. At the center of his aspirations is a film he wants to make about his deaf mute father, a project that remains unrealized throughout the story.
Along the way, the narrator crosses paths with figures such as Jean-Luc Godard and Samuel Beckett, and encounters a ghost from Pere Lachaise Cemetery. These episodes mix hardship with unexpected humor and a persistent sense of nostalgia. The novel moves between cultures and cities, tracing displacement and the slow reshaping of identity that comes with exile. Shimon draws on his own experience as an Iraqi abroad, and the book sits between memoir and fiction without fully committing to either.
The setting shifts from Iraq to the streets and underground stations of Paris, grounding the story in specific, physical places rather than abstract ideas about belonging. Cultural alienation and stubborn hope run through the narrative side by side.
