A multicultural anthology of thirty-seven short stories written between 1900 and the early 1990s, telling of how people of African, Asian, Latino, Native American, Jewish, Middle Eastern, and European descent try to reconcile their visions of America with reality.
Content Note
I. ARRIVING -- In the land of the free / Sui Sin Far -- The whipping / Marita Bonner -- The English lesson / Nicholasa Mohr -- The German refugee / Bernard Malamud -- They won't crack it open / Kim Yong Ik -- A wife's story / Bharati Mukherjee -- Silver pavements, golden roofs / Chitra Divakaruni -- The blossoming of Bongbong / Jessica Hagedorn -- Children of the sea / Edwidge Danticat -- II. BELONGING -- His grace / Mikhail Naimy -- Japanese hamlet / Toshio Mori -- New year for Fong Wing / Monfoon Leong -- Seventeen syllables / Hisaye Yamamoto -- The lesson / Toni Cade Bambara -- The death of Horatio Alger / LeRoi Jones, Amiri Baraka -- In the American society / Gish Jen -- Near the end of the world / Bruce Morrow -- Don't explanin / Jewelle Gomez -- Hungry dog / Agnes Rossi -- III. CROSSINGS -- The loudest voice / Grace Paley -- The man to send rain clouds / Leslie Marmon Silko -- American horse / Louise Erdrich -- El Patrón / Nash Candelaria -- Thank God for the Jews / Tahira Naqvi -- Gussuk / Mei Mei Evans -- Barbie-Q / Sandra Cisneros -- Birthday / David Wong Louie -- Borders / Thomas King -- How to date a browngirl, blackgirl, whitegirl, or halfie / Junot Díaz -- IV. REMEMBERING -- Old West / Richard Bausch -- Elethia / Alice Walker -- Visitors, 1965 / Oscar Hijuelos -- The disappearance / Jeanne Schinto -- The chandelier / Gregory Orfalea -- Five jack cool / Michael Stephens -- To Da-Duh, in memoriam / Paule Marshall -- Election day, 1984 / Michelle Cliff -- A drug called tradition / Sherman Alexie.