Beautiful Country
A Memoir
(Sprache: Englisch)
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • The moving story of an undocumented child living in poverty in the richest country in the world-an incandescent debut from an astonishing new talent • A TODAY SHOW #READWITHJENNA PICK
In Chinese, the word for America, Mei...
In Chinese, the word for America, Mei...
lieferbar
versandkostenfrei
Buch (Kartoniert)
21.10 €
- Lastschrift, Kreditkarte, Paypal, Rechnung
- Kostenlose Rücksendung
Produktdetails
Produktinformationen zu „Beautiful Country “
Klappentext zu „Beautiful Country “
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • The moving story of an undocumented child living in poverty in the richest country in the world-an incandescent debut from an astonishing new talent • A TODAY SHOW #READWITHJENNA PICK In Chinese, the word for America, Mei Guo, translates directly to "beautiful country." Yet when seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994 full of curiosity, she is overwhelmed by crushing fear and scarcity. In China, Qian's parents were professors; in America, her family is "illegal" and it will require all the determination and small joys they can muster to survive.
In Chinatown, Qian's parents labor in sweatshops. Instead of laughing at her jokes, they fight constantly, taking out the stress of their new life on one another. Shunned by her classmates and teachers for her limited English, Qian takes refuge in the library and masters the language through books, coming to think of The Berenstain Bears as her first American friends. And where there is delight to be found, Qian relishes it: her first bite of gloriously greasy pizza, weekly "shopping days," when Qian finds small treasures in the trash lining Brooklyn's streets, and a magical Christmas visit to Rockefeller Center-confirmation that the New York City she saw in movies does exist after all.
But then Qian's headstrong Ma Ma collapses, revealing an illness that she has kept secret for months for fear of the cost and scrutiny of a doctor's visit. As Ba Ba retreats further inward, Qian has little to hold onto beyond his constant refrain: Whatever happens, say that you were born here, that you've always lived here.
Inhabiting her childhood perspective with exquisite lyric clarity and unforgettable charm and strength, Qian Julie Wang has penned an essential American story about a family fracturing under the weight of invisibility, and a girl coming of age in the shadows, who never stops seeking the light.
Lese-Probe zu „Beautiful Country “
How It BeganMy story starts decades before my birth.
In my father s earliest memory, he is four years old, shooting a toy gun at nearby birds as he skips to the town square. There he halts, arrested by curious, swaying shapes that he is slow to recognize: two men dangling from a muscular tree.
He approaches slowly, pushing past the knees of adults encircling the tree. In the muggy late-summer air, mosquitoes and flies swarm the hanging corpses. The stench of decomposing flesh floods his nose.
He sees on the dirt ground a single character written in blood:
Wrongly accused.
It is 1966 and China s Cultural Revolution has just begun. Even for a country marked by storied upheaval, the next decade would bring unparalleled turmoil. To this date, the actual death toll from the purges remains unspoken and, worse, unknown.
* * *
Three years later, my seven-year-old father watched as his eldest brother was placed under arrest. Weeks prior, my teenage uncle had criticized Mao Zedong in writing for manipulating the innocent people of China by pitting them against one another, just to centralize his power. My uncle had naïvely, heroically, stupidly signed his name to the essay and distributed it.
So there would be no high school graduation for him, only starvation and torture behind prison walls.
From then on, my father would spend his childhood bearing witness to his parents public beatings, all while enduring his own humiliation at school, where he was forced to stand in the front of the classroom every morning as his teachers and classmates berated him and his treasonous family. Outside of school, adults and children alike pelted him with rocks, pebbles, shit. Gone was the honor of his grandfather, whose deft brokering had managed to shield their village from the rape and pillage of the Japanese occupation. Gone were the visitors to the Wang family courtyard who sought his father s calligraphy. From then on, it would just be his
... mehr
mother s bruised face. His father s silent, stoic tears. His four sisters screams as the Red Guards ransacked their already shredded home.
It is against this backdrop that my parents beginnings unfurled. My mother s pain was that of a daughter born to a family entangled in the government. None of her father s power was enough to insulate her from the unrest and sexism of her time. She grew up a hundred miles away from my father, and their hardships were at once the same and worlds apart.
Half a century and a migration across the world later, it would take therapy s slow and arduous unraveling for me to see that the thread of trauma was woven into every fiber of my family, my childhood.
* * *
On July 29, 1994, I arrived at JFK Airport on a visa that would expire much too quickly. Five days prior, I had turned seven years old, the same age at which my father had begun his daily wrestle with shame. My parents and I would spend the next five years in the furtive shadows of New York City, pushing past hunger pangs to labor at menial jobs, with no rights, no access to medical care, no hope of legality. The Chinese refer to being undocumented colloquially as hei : being in the dark, being blacked out. And aptly so, because we spent those years shrouded in darkness while wrestling with hope and dignity.
Memory is a fickle thing, but other than names and certain identifying details which I have changed out of respect for others privacy I have endeavored to document my family s undocumented years as authentically and intimately as possible. I regret that I can do no justice to my father s childhood, for it is pockmarked by more despair than I can ever know.
In some ways, this project has always been in me, but in a much larger way, I
It is against this backdrop that my parents beginnings unfurled. My mother s pain was that of a daughter born to a family entangled in the government. None of her father s power was enough to insulate her from the unrest and sexism of her time. She grew up a hundred miles away from my father, and their hardships were at once the same and worlds apart.
Half a century and a migration across the world later, it would take therapy s slow and arduous unraveling for me to see that the thread of trauma was woven into every fiber of my family, my childhood.
* * *
On July 29, 1994, I arrived at JFK Airport on a visa that would expire much too quickly. Five days prior, I had turned seven years old, the same age at which my father had begun his daily wrestle with shame. My parents and I would spend the next five years in the furtive shadows of New York City, pushing past hunger pangs to labor at menial jobs, with no rights, no access to medical care, no hope of legality. The Chinese refer to being undocumented colloquially as hei : being in the dark, being blacked out. And aptly so, because we spent those years shrouded in darkness while wrestling with hope and dignity.
Memory is a fickle thing, but other than names and certain identifying details which I have changed out of respect for others privacy I have endeavored to document my family s undocumented years as authentically and intimately as possible. I regret that I can do no justice to my father s childhood, for it is pockmarked by more despair than I can ever know.
In some ways, this project has always been in me, but in a much larger way, I
... weniger
Autoren-Porträt von Qian Julie Wang
Qian Julie Wang
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Qian Julie Wang
- 2021, Internationale Ausgabe, 320 Seiten, 1 Abbildungen, Maße: 15,8 x 22,9 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: Doubleday
- ISBN-10: 0385548028
- ISBN-13: 9780385548021
- Erscheinungsdatum: 09.09.2021
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, NPR, Publishers Weekly, The Guardian, Good Housekeeping, She Reads, and more One of President Obama's Favorite Books of the YearIncredibly important, exquisitely written, harrowing. . . Beautiful Country tells [Wang s] story, well, quite beautifully. It is not only Wang s mastery of the language that makes the story so compelling, but also the passionate yearning for empathy and understanding. Beautiful Country is timely, yes, but more importantly it is a near-masterpiece that will make Qian Julie Wang a literary star. Shondaland
For fans of Angela's Ashes and The Glass Castle. Newsday
[An] exquisitely crafted memoir. Oprah Daily
A heartbreaking and intimate memoir... the storytelling from a young Qian s perspective is riveting. Politico
This unforgettable memoir is eye-opening to the nth degree. Real Simple
Elegantly affecting. The Guardian
A coming-of-age memoir about an undocumented Chinese girl growing up in New York's Chinatown, this lyrical book is full of small moments of joy, heartbreaking pain and the struggles of a family trying to survive in the shadows of society. It's a uniquely American story, and an essential one. Good Housekeeping
An astounding memoir from a debut author that you re not going to want to miss. PopSugar
[Qian Julie Wang] is remarkable, and her story is a must-read. Alma
An amazing story of the emotional and physical toll of lives lived in the enforced shadows of anti-immigrant America. Daily Kos
Wang s voice is powerful and the writing is absolutely gorgeous. Emma Straub, author of This Time Tomorrow
Beautiful Country rings with power and authenticity. Wang's searing exploration reveals how she and her family were forced to navigate the
... mehr
yawning cracks in the American Dream. An eloquent, thought-provoking and touching memoir. Jean Kwok, author of Girl in Translation and Searching for Sylvie Lee
Heartrending, unvarnished, and powerfully courageous, this account of growing up undocumented in America will never leave you. Gish Jen, author of The Resisters
Deeply compelling I was moved by the love and resilience of this family thrust into darkness that casts an urgent light on a reality that extends way beyond America s borders. Hisham Matar, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Return
A potent testament to the love, curiosity, grit, and hope of a courageous and resourceful immigrant child. Engaging readers through all five senses and the heart, Wang's debut memoir is a critical addition to the literature on immigration as well as the timeless category of childhood memoir. Kirkus Reviews, *Starred Review*
Extraordinary With immense skill, Wang parses how her family s illegal status blighted nearly every aspect of their life . . .While Wang s story of pursuing the American dream is undoubtedly timeless, it s her family s triumph in the face of xenophobia and intolerance that makes it feel especially relevant today. Consider this remarkable memoir a new classic. Publishers Weekly, *Starred Review*
The writing is sparse, stylish, sometimes harrowing and sometimes humorous as she narrates experiences that are incredibly common but rarely captured with this level of artful control. It s shaping up to be one of the best memoirs of the year. Bookpage, *Starred Review*
[A] powerful debut. . . [Wang] movingly tells how undocumented families like hers are often overlooked and their experiences ignored. A haunting memoir of people and places that will stay with readers long after the last page. Library Journal
Heartrending, unvarnished, and powerfully courageous, this account of growing up undocumented in America will never leave you. Gish Jen, author of The Resisters
Deeply compelling I was moved by the love and resilience of this family thrust into darkness that casts an urgent light on a reality that extends way beyond America s borders. Hisham Matar, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Return
A potent testament to the love, curiosity, grit, and hope of a courageous and resourceful immigrant child. Engaging readers through all five senses and the heart, Wang's debut memoir is a critical addition to the literature on immigration as well as the timeless category of childhood memoir. Kirkus Reviews, *Starred Review*
Extraordinary With immense skill, Wang parses how her family s illegal status blighted nearly every aspect of their life . . .While Wang s story of pursuing the American dream is undoubtedly timeless, it s her family s triumph in the face of xenophobia and intolerance that makes it feel especially relevant today. Consider this remarkable memoir a new classic. Publishers Weekly, *Starred Review*
The writing is sparse, stylish, sometimes harrowing and sometimes humorous as she narrates experiences that are incredibly common but rarely captured with this level of artful control. It s shaping up to be one of the best memoirs of the year. Bookpage, *Starred Review*
[A] powerful debut. . . [Wang] movingly tells how undocumented families like hers are often overlooked and their experiences ignored. A haunting memoir of people and places that will stay with readers long after the last page. Library Journal
... weniger
Kommentar zu "Beautiful Country"
Schreiben Sie einen Kommentar zu "Beautiful Country".
Kommentar verfassen