Summary

The novel began with Haris Abadi leaving the Tugcan Hotel in Turkey. He offered to pay the concierge in Turkish liras, but then he requested American dollars instead. Haris, who had been born in Iraq, felt upset that the concierge recognized his American citizenship. Even though he had worked hard for it, he hated that people abroad could tell that he was an American.

Haris and the concierge saw a poor, elderly Syrian man sweeping the hotel’s marble step. The concierge shooed him away. Haris paid the concierge one lira, a very low amount, and then went inside of his taxi. He looked out the taxi window and saw the concierge pay the one lira to the old man for his cleaning labor. Such a small amount was an insult.

Haris passed by poor refugees, including old men staring at the...