--- description: Find out why Brown Album by Porochista Khakpour is on TIME's list of the must-read books from this year. title: 'Brown Album' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4b3f50a9559293a/698a1406db29879d34265ff8/best-books-2020-Brown-Album.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 10, 2020 # Brown Album by Porochista Khakpour by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  In Porochista Khakpour’s collection of essays, _Brown Album: Essays on Exile and Identity_, she delves into what it means to be Iranian, Middle Eastern, an immigrant, a woman and yes, Brown, in America. This, she writes, is “a testament to the greatest and worst experience of my life: being a spokesperson for my people, a role I never dreamed of and never asked for. This is my pigeonhole, and this is my legacy.” Drawing on her experiences growing up in Los Angeles after her family fled the Iranian Revolution, Khakpour uses sharp observations and biting wit to examine what is lost and what is gained when one is perpetually viewed as “the other.” In doing so, she gives brilliant insight into the country she now calls home, and sets a new standard for the personal essay genre. **Buy Now:** _Brown Album_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780525564713 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525564713/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0525564713&linkId=864b249a36f0ea3cce09d913e5c1183c "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5907473/brown-album/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5907473/brown-album/"},"headline":"'Brown Album' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020","datePublished":"2020-11-10T22:14:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:45:09.748Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5907473/brown-album/","keywords":["E-Commerce","Books","list"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4b3f50a9559293a/698a1406db29879d34265ff8/best-books-2020-Brown-Album.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4b3f50a9559293a/698a1406db29879d34265ff8/best-books-2020-Brown-Album.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5907473/brown-album/","name":"'Brown Album' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020"}}]}] ```