A Black teacher searches for himself across the United States in this
"emotive, brave" (Daily Mail, London) story for all of us who have
fantasized about escaping our daily lives and starting over.
Michael Kabongo is a British Congolese teacher living in London and
living the dream: he's beloved by his students, popular with his
coworkers, and adored by his proud mother who emigrated from the Congo
to the UK in search of a better life.
But when he suffers a devastating loss, his life is thrown into a
tailspin. As he struggles to find a way forward, memories of his
fathers' violent death, the weight of refugeehood, and an increasing
sense of dread threaten everything he's worked so hard to achieve.
Longing to start over, Michael decides to spontaneously pack up and go
to America, the mythical "land of the free," where he imagines
everything will be better and easier.
On this transformative journey, Michael travels everywhere from New York
City to San Francisco, partying with new friends, sparking fleeting
romances, and splurging on big adventures, with the intention of living
the life of his dreams until the money in his bank account runs out.
"Narrated with haunting lyricism, The Selfless Act of Breathing is an
intimate journey through the darkest of human impulses to the gleaming
flickers of love and radical hope" (Susan Abulhawa, author of Against
the Loveless World).
