Futureface Audiobook By Alex Wagner cover art

Futureface

A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret to Belonging

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Futureface

By: Alex Wagner
Narrated by: Alex Wagner
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Buy for $18.00

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From the host of MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Tonight, “a rich and revealing memoir” (The New York Times) about her travels around the globe to solve the mystery of her ancestry, confronting the question at the heart of the American experience of immigration, race, and identity: Who are my people?

“A thoughtful, beautiful meditation on what makes us who we are . . . and the values and ideals that bind us together as Americans.”—Barack Obama

The daughter of a Burmese mother and a white American father, Alex Wagner grew up thinking of herself as a “futureface”—an avatar of a mixed-race future when all races would merge into a brown singularity. But when one family mystery leads to another, Wagner’s post-racial ideals fray as she becomes obsessed with the specifics of her own family’s racial and ethnic history.

Drawn into the wild world of ancestry, she embarks upon a quest around the world—and into her own DNA—to answer the ultimate questions of who she really is and where she belongs. The journey takes her from Burma to Luxembourg, from ruined colonial capitals with records written on banana leaves to Mormon databases, genetic labs, and the rest of the twenty-first-century genealogy complex. But soon she begins to grapple with a deeper question: Does it matter? Is our enduring obsession with blood and land, race and identity, worth all the trouble it’s caused us?

Wagner weaves together fascinating history, genetic science, and sociology but is really after deeper stuff than her own ancestry: in a time of conflict over who we are as a country, she tries to find the story where we all belong.

Praise for Futureface

“Smart, searching . . . Meditating on our ancestors, as Wagner’s own story shows, can suggest better ways of being ourselves.”—Maud Newton, The New York Times Book Review

“Sincere and instructive . . . This timely reflection on American identity, with a bonus exposé of DNA ancestry testing, deserves a wide audience.”—Library Journal

“The narrative is part Mary Roach–style participation-heavy research, part family history, and part exploration of existential loneliness. . . . The journey is worth taking.”—Kirkus Reviews

“[A] ruminative exploration of ethnicity and identity . . . Wagner’s odyssey is an effective riposte to anti-immigrant politics.”—Publishers Weekly Emigration & Immigration Biographies & Memoirs Social justice Anthropology Social Sciences Imperialism Entertainment & Celebrities Latin America Middle East Africa Celebrity Morocco Middle Ages

Critic reviews

“Futureface raises urgent questions having to do with history and complicity. . . . A rich and revealing memoir.”—The New York Times

“A thoughtful, beautiful meditation on what makes us who we are . . . and the values and ideals that bind us together as Americans.”—Barack Obama

“Smart, searching . . . Meditating on our ancestors, as Wagner’s own story shows, can suggest better ways of being ourselves.”—Maud Newton, The New York Times Book Review

“Sincere and instructive . . . This timely reflection on American identity, with a bonus exposé of DNA ancestry testing, deserves a wide audience.”—Library Journal

“The narrative is part Mary Roach–style participation-heavy research, part family history, and part exploration of existential loneliness. . . . The journey is worth taking.”—Kirkus Reviews

“[A] ruminative exploration of ethnicity and identity . . . Wagner’s odyssey is an effective riposte to anti-immigrant politics.”—Publishers Weekly

“Alex Wagner is brilliant and hilarious. Futureface is a magic trick: She starts with the humble story of a third-culture kid’s existential loneliness and ends with a smart, timely, and moving exploration of family lies, exile and immigration, genetics, and the mystery of human belonging.”—Eddie Huang, bestselling author of Fresh Off the Boat

“Futureface is an important contribution to the American conversation—Alex Wagner’s story is insightful, moving, informative, and searing. I have deeply admired Alex for a long time as an original thinker, a keenly observant journalist, and a funny, empathetic human being. Read this book and you’ll understand why.”—Wes Moore, bestselling author of The Other Wes Moore
Engaging Eloquence • Humorous Perspective • Personal Journey • Immigrant Heritage • Meaningful Exploration

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I love it. Alex was terrific at narration. Couldn't put it down. Very interesting.

A wonderful book on Alex's heritage

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Very interesting true story about Alex Wagner the biracial , American Burmese , journalist lady searching for the answer “where do I belong ? Where is home”. The journey of self searching is driven by her own curiosity , and less by her mother or father who seems to be comfortable with their own “I Am ...” . Alex research found different avenues to dig deep into trying to discover truth behind masks . Regardless of who she is, what blood runs in her veins , all said the same thing the source is one for all , and all made it to the dream land that is Home . The belonging is here , even if she was made of many diverse races . Isn’t our diversity and belonging feelings what made America ? Then why we accepted who divided us because of our diversity?

Belonging

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This is Alex's personal story, but in a distant way, it is everyone's search for meaning. We are all mutts - all mixed breeds - and simultaneously all the same breed. Thank you for sharing your life with us, to free us to contemplate our own and how we view it. It was fun to see your dogged pursuit of truth & detail. You would've been a good engineer.

Excellent read: history & search for meaning

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Loved this book for its way of putting ostensibly difficult, send and divisive issues into clear perspective with humor and grace. I read it while the news cycle was covering and totally obsessed with our racial ‘differences’ (NABJ interview and follow-up), for which it was a welcome breath of fresh air. Alex writes just as she presents herself on TV. That is to say, smart, focused and with a beautiful smile.

Timeliness! Read in early August 2024.

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book she's very funny and I could relate to all of the twist turns and miss- steps tracing my own family history. however I will say I didn't always agree with her assessments and conclusions. I found my own 23and Me DNA testing quite satisfying it even busted a family myth regarding a certain great-great grandmother's being half-indian.

fun story

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