Alien - by Sandro Galea (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A personal treatise from distinguished social scientist Sandro Galea on the indelible effects of being an immigrant--and what it means for the greater good.

"I am one of the lucky ones," writes Sandro Galea. Galea left home in Malta at fourteen with his parents and sister as the island was rocked by political turmoil. The family made their way to Canada and Galea, in turn, eventually made his way to the United States. This is the story of Galea's long, surreal journey of forging a life in a series of new and unfamiliar places.

With spare and deeply affecting prose, Alien is a poignant exploration of what it means to build a life across borders--and why it's important for all of us. Galea's intimate and personal story frames the experience of being an immigrant in terms of its indelible lessons on adaptation, identity, belonging, and shared generosity. Galea also captures at once the joys and the uncertainties that define the process of uprooting one life to begin another abroad. His is a reflection on empathy, on precarity, and on the effect of immigrating, in which one becomes keenly aware of how quickly life--and the world--can change.

Blending philosophical inquiry and personal story, Alien bridges the gap between storytelling and scholarship and, in doing so, gifts us an essential aperture on the world not everyone experiences--and the value of having those who do.

Review Quotes

"For most of his career, Sandro Galea has bent his searching intellect against the question of our health. How do we, working together as a community, center it, improve it, expand it, and celebrate it? In these times, we should all be thankful he has gone one step further in this work: what does it mean to be together in community in the first place? Who belongs here, to "us"? Weaving personal and professional in a moving and vulnerable account, Galea reminds us what matters most has always been what ties us: our collective humanity."

--Abdul El-Sayed doctor, 2026 Michigan US Senate candidate, and coauthor of "Medicare for All: A Citizen's Guide"

"As a fellow physician, public health practitioner and immigrant, I recognized so much in these pages. Sandro Galea brings both lived experience and deep expertise to illuminate how the conditions surrounding immigration shape health, dignity and belonging. This is a thoughtful, important book that not only deepens understanding, but compels urgent action."

--Leana S. Wen contributing columnist, Washington Post, and author of "Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health"

"Galea offers a powerful and deeply human reflection on what it means to live across borders. Blending personal narrative with sharp public health insight, Alien illuminates the lived experience of migration with empathy, clarity, and intellectual depth. At a time when migration shapes our global health and social realities, this book is both timely and essential--an invitation to better understand belonging, resilience, and our shared humanity."

--Dr. Santino Severoni Director of Health and Migration, World Health Organization

"Keeping the broader immigrant experience in view while acknowledging his own privileges, Galea's dual perspective is its own humility--the sense that any single story sits within a bigger one. In doing so, Alien explores the ways that immigration reveals how societies distribute risk, dignity, and care."

--Dr. Céline Gounder physician, epidemiologist, and medical journalist at CBS News and KFF Health News

About the Author

Sandro Galea is the Margaret C. Ryan Dean of the Washington University School of Public Health, the Eugene S. and Constance Kahn Distinguished Professor in Public Health, and vice provost for interdisciplinary initiatives at Washington University in St. Louis. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and is one of the most cited social scientists in the world. He has served as a field physician for Doctors Without Borders and has held academic and leadership positions at Boston University, Columbia University, University of Michigan, and the New York Academy of Medicine. A prolific writer and speaker, his most recent book is Within Reason: A Liberal Public Health for an Illiberal Time.