Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth

ISBN: 0593730178

Author: Hern?ndez, Daisy

Condition: New

A provocative, personal, blazingly intelligent examination of one of the most vexing questions facing the United States today: Who is, and should be, a citizen?[A] fascinating, urgently needed new book.-Chicago TribuneHow did Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free turn upside down to where we are today? Everyone needs to read this book, citizens and non-citizens alike. Brilliant!-Sandra CisnerosThe most comprehensive book on citizenship/immigration Ive ever read. A must-read!-Javier ZamoraThe book I have always wanted to read.-Jose Antonio VargasPersonal, profound, engaging, and comprehensive . . . this is an essential book for these contentious times.-Booklist (starred review)A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR: Chicago Review of Books, Autostraddle, Publishers LunchIn this one-of-a-kind book, Daisy Hernández fiercely interrogates one of the most complicated subjects of contemporary life and politics: citizenship. Braiding memoir, history, and cultural criticism, she exposes the truths and lies of how we define ourselves as a country and a people. Turning to her own familys stories-her mother arrived from Colombia, while her father was a political refugee from Castros Cuba-Hernández shows how the very idea of citizenship is a myth, one of the stories we tell ourselves about the American soul and psyche.Reframing our understanding of what it means to be an American, Citizenship is an urgent and necessary account of the laws, customs, and language we use to include and exclude, especially those who come from Latin America. With her scholars mind and memoirists gift for narrative, Hernández weaves a story both personal and national, while reckoning with our countrys ongoing debate about who belongs and providing fresh ways of thinking about citizenship. At once bracing, fearless, and tender, Citizenship is a powerful portrait of one familys experiences in the borderlands of citizenship and an honest illumination of the country in which we live.