Items related to The Book of Unknown Americans
We had been planning our life here for so long. Filling out papers, hoping, praying, waiting. We had all of our dreams pinned on this place, but the pin was thin and delicate and it was too soon to tell whether it was going to hold much of anything at all.
When Alma Rivera arrives in Kirkwood, Delaware she is brim full of the promise and possibilities of her new American home. Hope that her luminous daughter Maribel will be helped by the specialist education the US can provide, and faith that her husband Arturo will flourish in a country that celebrates the hard-working and the talented.
But the reality of life without status, money, family and friends soon becomes apparent. And when violence casts its shadow, Alma realizes that her biggest mistake was assuming that everything that could go wrong in their lives already had . . .
In this tale of great imagination and grace, Cristina Henríquez gives voice to the stories of the displaced and unknown - the untold stories of our time that resonate for us all.
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Review:
The Book of Unknown Americans is filled with the fiercest kinds of love - of a boy for a beautiful girl, of stricken parents for an injured daughter, of an immigrant community for an impossible America. In this powerful novel, Cristina Henríquez gives us unforgettable characters, whose destinies are shaped by forces - senseless, random, political - far beyond their control, and yet whose resilience yields a most profound and unexpected kind of beauty (RUTH OZEKI author of A Tale for the Time Being)
Cristina Henríquez's novel is a triumph not just of storytelling, but of American storytelling, a novel whose breadth and power blow open any traditional definition of 'American.' Henríquez pulls us into the lives of her characters with such mastery that we hang onto them just as fiercely as they hang onto one another, and their dreams. This passionate, powerful novel will stay with you long after you've turned the final page (BEN FOUNTAIN author of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk)
Wonderful. If most novels, or at least most good ones, are songs, then The Book of Unknown Americans is a choir. In a multiplicity of voices, each one distinct and authentic, Cristina Henríquez tells a whole community of stories, and the book that emerges is warm, wise, and unfailingly generous. It never seems to strive for profundity or grasp at poignancy, and yet page by page, as naturally as can be, it rouses the conscience and touches the heart (Kevin Brockmeier author of The Brief History of the Dead and The Illumination)
Here is an important story about family, community and identity, told with elegance and compassion. The Book of Unknown Americans is unforgettable (Jami Attenberg author of The Middlesteins)
Some of the characters in The Book of Unknown Americans were born in the United States, others came as adults or were brought here from Central and South America. Their stories speak to us, involve us in their lives. They dream, meet challenges, and dare to live on hope. Sometimes they cry, but they also laugh, dance, make love. In this beautiful book, Cristina Henríquez introduces us to their vibrant lives, to heartbreaking choices, to the tender beginnings of love, and to the humanity in every individual. Unforgettable (Esmeralda Santiago author of When I Was Puerto Rican and Conquistadora)
The language... feels heartfelt, original and true. A striking new voice, full of empathy, detail and imagination (COLUM MCCANN on Henríquez's short story collection COME TOGETHER, FALL APART)
These stories, told in a direct and sparse style, are truly unforgettable... I could not put aside this book (ISABEL ALLENDE on the short story collection COME TOGETHER, FALL APART) --Isabel Allende
Book Description:
Cristina Henríquez's novel is a triumph not just of storytelling, but of American storytelling, a novel whose breadth and power blow open any traditional definition of 'American.' Henríquez pulls us into the lives of her characters with such mastery that we hang onto them just as fiercely as they hang onto one another, and their dreams. This passionate, powerful novel will stay with you long after you've turned the final page (BEN FOUNTAIN author of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk)
Wonderful. If most novels, or at least most good ones, are songs, then The Book of Unknown Americans is a choir. In a multiplicity of voices, each one distinct and authentic, Cristina Henríquez tells a whole community of stories, and the book that emerges is warm, wise, and unfailingly generous. It never seems to strive for profundity or grasp at poignancy, and yet page by page, as naturally as can be, it rouses the conscience and touches the heart (Kevin Brockmeier author of The Brief History of the Dead and The Illumination)
Here is an important story about family, community and identity, told with elegance and compassion. The Book of Unknown Americans is unforgettable (Jami Attenberg author of The Middlesteins)
Some of the characters in The Book of Unknown Americans were born in the United States, others came as adults or were brought here from Central and South America. Their stories speak to us, involve us in their lives. They dream, meet challenges, and dare to live on hope. Sometimes they cry, but they also laugh, dance, make love. In this beautiful book, Cristina Henríquez introduces us to their vibrant lives, to heartbreaking choices, to the tender beginnings of love, and to the humanity in every individual. Unforgettable (Esmeralda Santiago author of When I Was Puerto Rican and Conquistadora)
The language... feels heartfelt, original and true. A striking new voice, full of empathy, detail and imagination (COLUM MCCANN on Henríquez's short story collection COME TOGETHER, FALL APART)
These stories, told in a direct and sparse style, are truly unforgettable... I could not put aside this book (ISABEL ALLENDE on the short story collection COME TOGETHER, FALL APART) --Isabel Allende
Inspired by the story of her father, Cristina Henríquez has crafted a deeply moving novel about the many different voices of the immigrant experience, and one family in particular.
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- PublisherCanongate Books Ltd
- Publication date2014
- ISBN 10 1782111190
- ISBN 13 9781782111191
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages304
- Rating
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The Book of Unknown Americans
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Canongate Books
(2014)
ISBN 10: 1782111190
ISBN 13: 9781782111191
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