A stirring, witty, and poignant glimpse into the bewildering American
immigrant experience from someone who has lived it. Also, a mirror held
up to America.
Into the maelstrom of unprecedented
contemporary debates about immigrants in the United States, this
perfectly timed book gives us a portrait of what the new immigrant
experience in America is really like. Written as a "guide" for the newly
arrived, and providing "practical information and advice," Roya
Hakakian, an immigrant herself, reveals what those who settle here love
about the country, what they miss about their homes, the cruelty of some
Americans, and the unceasing generosity of others. She captures the
texture of life in a new place in all its complexity, laying bare both
its beauty and its darkness as she discusses race, sex, love, death,
consumerism, and what it is like to be from a country that is in
America's crosshairs. Her tenderly perceptive and surprisingly humorous
account invites us to see ourselves as we appear to others, making it
possible for us to rediscover our many American gifts through the
perspective of the outsider. In shattering myths and embracing painful
contradictions that are unique to this place, A Beginner's Guide to America is Hakakian's candid love letter to America.
