Imagining America: Stories from the promised land

By Wesley Brown, Amy Ling, Amy Brown, Wesley And Ling

Book Overview

On its original publication in 1991, Imagining America was recognized as a groundbreaking work -- "the collection [that] defines multiculturalism" (Booklist). This revised edition preserves the unique historical arrangement of stories from 1900 to the present within parts that mirror the newcomer's experience -- Arriving, Belonging, Crossings, and Remembering -- and includes eleven new authors to bring the collection up to date: Sherman Alexie, Michelle Cliff, Edwidge Danticat, Junot Diaz, Chitra Divakaruni, Jewelle Gomez, Jessica Hagedorn, Thomas King, Bruce Morrow, Agnes Rossi, and David Wong Louie. They join Toni Cade Bambara, Richard Bausch, Marita Bonner, Nash Candelaria, Sandra Cisneros, Louise Erdrich, Mei Mei Evans, Oscar Hijuelos, Gish Jen, LeRoi Jones / Amiri Baraka, Kim Yong lk, Monfoon Leong, Bernard Malamud, Paule Marshall, Nicholasa Mohr, Toshio Mori, Bharati Mukherjee, Mikhail Naimy, Tahira Naqvi, Gregory Orfalea, Grace Paley, Jeanne Schinto, Leslie Marmon Silko, Michael Stephens, Sui Sin Far, Alice Walker, and Hisaye Yamamoto. Here is the most comprehensive, authoritative, and useful presentation of America's rich literary tradition and multicultural heritage. Book jacket.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0892551615
• ISBN13: 9780892551613
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Persea Books, Incorporated
• Length: 370 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

America the Melting Pot, (or perhaps a tossed salad!)

Imagining America is a fine collection of stories showing the diverse and at times emotional views of immigrants into our country. The collection is not afraid to provide glimpses of how poorly America has treated some of its immigrants and paints an accurate depiction of how these immigrants found their experience in America upon entry. Because of its diverse collection of stories, no stone is left unturned. I would highly recommend this text to teachers and students alike, as well as those seeking to understand the "salad" that is America.

Packed with important authors and works

This revised edition of an original 1991 publication in multicultural American fiction provides eleven new authors to join the others profiled in the prior anthology. Add a time line of historical events from 1900 to present times within the context of these short stories and you have a rich blend of multicultural history in fiction which is packed with important authors and works.

Good for university classrooms

Excellent variety of multi-cultural American writing. Offers new materials for thinking about immigration, immigrants' experiences, etc. I've used it in an Introduction to Fiction class at a university with good success.