THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER
“This riveting, courageous memoir ought to be mandatory reading for every American.” —Michelle Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The New Jim Crow
“l cried reading this book, realizing more fully what my parents endured.” —Amy Tan, New York Times bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and Where the Past Begins
“This book couldn’t be more timely and more … New York Times bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and Where the Past Begins
“This book couldn’t be more timely and more necessary.” —Dave Eggers, New York Times bestselling author of What Is the What and The Monk of Mokha
Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, called “the most famous undocumented immigrant in America,” tackles one of the defining issues of our time in this explosive and deeply personal call to arms.
“This is not a book about the politics of immigration. This book––at its core––is not about immigration at all. This book is about homelessness, not in a traditional sense, but in the unsettled, unmoored psychological state that undocumented immigrants like myself find ourselves in. This book is about lying and being forced to lie to get by; about passing as an American and as a contributing citizen; about families, keeping them together, and having to make new ones when you can’t. This book is about constantly hiding from the government and, in the process, hiding from ourselves. This book is about what it means to not have a home.
After 25 years of living illegally in a country that does not consider me one of its own, this book is the closest thing I have to freedom.”
—Jose Antonio Vargas, from Dear America
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An honest and revealing portrait of a courageous and inspiring person, which also holds a mirror to our society, exposing some unpleasant but vital truths about our nation/culture.
The first 2/3 were great. Then it kind of petered out.
Myopic but interesting
This book needs to be read by everyone to gain an understanding of our messed up immigration laws and procedures and the harm being created to real people.
Didn’t read the book…and won’t. You call yourself a “citizen”??? I have no sympathy for you. You probably make (and have made) MILLIONS on your publications–all ILLEGALLY!!! Do things in a LEGAL way…and THEN write your book for publication. As you really are a NON-citizen, this book shouldn’t even be on the shelves! It’s NOT about “politics”, either–it’s about what is FAIR and JUST for those who worked–HARDER THAN YOU!–to get to and become an American LEGALLY!!!
There were things I didn’t understand. Why didn’t his mother ever get to come? Why didn’t he apply for citizenship. He said it wasn’t possible but what was the problem. I understand he missed the amnesty and was too old for DACA. But why didn’t his grandparents adopt him? Why didn’t he just apply on his own. Did he register for the lottery. I’m sure there are good reasons, but he didn’t go into it. But it was well written. I would have liked more stories about people who weren’t as lucky and privileged as he was. Worth reading.
An amazing memoir that asks the question; what is American??? This book pushes the reader to question what is home. Vargas explains his introduction to the master narrative and his discovery that America isn’t nearly as equal and free as it pretends to be. A great read for all ages that will leave you questioning; what have I done to ‘earn’ my place? What does America promise? Vargas leaves his readers with a better understanding for undocumented immigrants and the struggles they face.
This is a great book with information for all of America. What we do to other human beings!