Imagining America: Stories from the Promised Land

by Wesley Brown, Amy Ling, Amy Brown, Wesley And Ling

Book Overview

Thirty-seven short stories from 1900 to the present, written by some of our best authors--African, Asian, European, Jewish, Middle Eastern, and Native American--follow the waves of immigration into and migration within the United States. These stories are unique in time and circumstance, yet they address a common dilemma: how to reconcile America's mythologized "promise" with its more complex reality. New to the collection are Sherman Alexie, Michelle Cliff, Edwidge Danticat, Junot Diaz, Chitra Divakaruni, Jewelle Gomez, 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 Ik, 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--making this, once again, the most authoritative and useful multicultural collection available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0892552778
• ISBN13: 9780892552771
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Persea Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.1"

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.