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Title details for Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang - Available

Beautiful Country

A Memoir

by Qian Julie Wang
Qian Julie Wang
Audiobook
3 of 4 copies available
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3 of 4 copies available
An incandescent memoir from an astonishing new talent, Beautiful Country puts readers in the shoes of an undocumented child living in poverty in the richest country in the world.
 
"Extraordinary…Consider this remarkable memoir a new classic."—Publishers Weekly, *Starred Review*
In Chinese, the word for America, Mei Guo, translates directly to “beautiful country.” Yet when seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994 full of curiosity, she is overwhelmed by crushing fear and scarcity. In China, Qian’s parents were professors; in America, her family is “illegal” and it will require all the determination and small joys they can muster to survive.
    In Chinatown, Qian’s parents labor in sweatshops. Instead of laughing at her jokes, they fight constantly, taking out the stress of their new life on one another. Shunned by her classmates and teachers for her limited English, Qian takes refuge in the library and masters the language through books, coming to think of The Berenstain Bears as her first American friends. And where there is delight to be found, Qian relishes it: her first bite of gloriously greasy pizza, weekly “shopping days,” when Qian finds small treasures in the trash lining Brooklyn’s streets, and a magical Christmas visit to Rockefeller Center—confirmation that the New York City she saw in movies does exist after all.
    But then Qian’s headstrong Ma Ma collapses, revealing an illness that she has kept secret for months for fear of the cost and scrutiny of a doctor’s visit. As Ba Ba retreats further inward, Qian has little to hold onto beyond his constant refrain: Whatever happens, say that you were born here, that you’ve always lived here.
    Inhabiting her childhood perspective with exquisite lyric clarity and unforgettable charm and strength, Qian Julie Wang has penned an essential American story about a family fracturing under the weight of invisibility, and a girl coming of age in the shadows, who never stops seeking the light.
Cover photograph © Bud Glick

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 7, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593455531
      • File size: 277590 KB
      • Duration: 09:38:18

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Author/narrator Qian Julie Wang captivates listeners with this poignant and powerful memoir. Speaking from her childhood perspective, Wang vividly describes living with her family in poverty and fear in New York City as undocumented immigrants from China. Her quiet, measured narration is a perfect match for her unsentimental prose. While often heartbreaking, Wang's writing is sparse yet beautiful. Her deeply personal and affecting performance compels one to keep listening even through the most painful moments of her family's struggle to survive. The final chapters are especially moving as Wang candidly reflects on the traumatic events of her life. This standout memoir is even more haunting and memorable in audio. V.T.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from June 28, 2021
      In this extraordinary debut, civil rights lawyer Wang recounts her years growing up as an undocumented immigrant living in “the furtive shadows” of America. During China’s Cultural Revolution, her uncle was thrown in prison for criticizing Mao Zedong, leaving his parents and younger brother, Wang’s father, to pay for his “treasonous” ways in the form of public beatings and humiliation. This fueled her father’s desire to find a better life in America, the “Beautiful Country.” In China, Wang’s parents were professors, but upon arriving in New York City in 1994, their credentials were meaningless. “Pushing past hunger pains,” they took menial jobs to support Wang, who worked alongside her mother in a sweatshop before starting school at age seven. During her five years in the States—“shrouded in darkness while wrestling with hope and dignity”—Wang managed to become a star student. With immense skill, she parses how her family’s illegal status blighted nearly every aspect of their life, from pushing her parents’ marriage to the brink to compromising their health. While Wang’s story of pursuing the American dream is undoubtedly timeless, it’s her family’s triumph in the face of “xenophobia and intolerance” that makes it feel especially relevant today. Consider this remarkable memoir a new classic. Agent: Andrianna Yeatts, ICM Partners.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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