![]() ![]() ![]() However, to read this merely as a mystery novel is to miss the brilliance of Lalami’s writing. The evolution of the case and discovery of details, including that the crime may not have been an accident, are a compelling way to tie these varied perspectives together. The narrative shifts perspectives from one chapter to the next, taking us inside the minds of Driss, his daughters and widow, members of the local police force, a sole witness, and the owners of the bowling alley/arcade next to the restaurant who are suspected of the crime. Laila Lalami’s novel The Other Americans is centered around the death of Driss Guerraoui, a Moroccan immigrant and restaurant owner who is killed in a hit-and-run accident after closing his shop late one evening. ![]() And just as in stats, this average in society can be skewed by outside elements. Why start a book review about a mystery novel with a stats lesson? The artificial nature of defining what is ‘average’ in a given society is central to understanding the idea of the ‘other,’ as an ‘other’ exists only in its relation to the average or societal norm. The average is impacted by outliers or skewed data and often does not even exist as a true value in the set. In Stats 101 we were taught to be cautious assuming that the average of a set of number is always a reliable representation of the data. ![]()
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