Review - Patriot Number One
Patriot Number One
by Lauren Hilgers
release date 3/20/2018
336 pages
Chapter length: medium
4 out of 5 stars
I received a copy of this eBook from the wonderful people at Crown Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for a review. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
The publisher summarizes this book as "[a] deeply reported look at the Chinese immigrant community in the United States, casting a new light on what it means to seek the American dream.
Nearly three years ago, journalist Lauren Hilgers received an unexpected call. Hello, Lauren! a man shouted in halting Mandarin. We might be seeing you in New York again soon! The voice belonged to Zhuang Liehong, a Chinese man who had been arrested in his home country for leading a string of protests, and whom Hilgers had met the previous year while reporting a story. Despite zero contacts and a shaky grasp of English, Zhuang explained that he and his wife, Little Yan, had a plan to escape from their American tour group and move to Flushing, Queens, to escape persecution back home. A few weeks later, they arrived on Hilgers' doorstep.
With a novelistic eye for character and detail, Hilgers weaves their story with a larger investigation of the Chinese community in Flushing, one of the fastest-growing immigrant enclaves in the U.S. There's Tang Yuanjun, a former Tiananmen Square leader who has come to terms with living a shadow life in America as his friends and family continue their own in China. And Karen, one of Little Yan's friends from night school, who was kidnapped by her relatives yet remains hopeful, working part-time in a nail salon as she attends vocational school for hotel work.
Patriot Number One is Hilgers' nuanced, through-the-looking-glass story of the twenty-first-century American dream. Zhuang and Little Yan's challenges reveal a world hidden in plain sight: the byzantine network of employment agencies and language schools, of underground banks and illegal dormitories that allow immigrants to survive. Amid a raging immigration debate on the national stage, Hilgers' deeply reported and beautifully wrought account paints a revealing portrait of just what it takes to survive."
by Lauren Hilgers
release date 3/20/2018
336 pages
Chapter length: medium
4 out of 5 stars
I received a copy of this eBook from the wonderful people at Crown Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for a review. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
The publisher summarizes this book as "[a] deeply reported look at the Chinese immigrant community in the United States, casting a new light on what it means to seek the American dream.
Nearly three years ago, journalist Lauren Hilgers received an unexpected call. Hello, Lauren! a man shouted in halting Mandarin. We might be seeing you in New York again soon! The voice belonged to Zhuang Liehong, a Chinese man who had been arrested in his home country for leading a string of protests, and whom Hilgers had met the previous year while reporting a story. Despite zero contacts and a shaky grasp of English, Zhuang explained that he and his wife, Little Yan, had a plan to escape from their American tour group and move to Flushing, Queens, to escape persecution back home. A few weeks later, they arrived on Hilgers' doorstep.
With a novelistic eye for character and detail, Hilgers weaves their story with a larger investigation of the Chinese community in Flushing, one of the fastest-growing immigrant enclaves in the U.S. There's Tang Yuanjun, a former Tiananmen Square leader who has come to terms with living a shadow life in America as his friends and family continue their own in China. And Karen, one of Little Yan's friends from night school, who was kidnapped by her relatives yet remains hopeful, working part-time in a nail salon as she attends vocational school for hotel work.
Patriot Number One is Hilgers' nuanced, through-the-looking-glass story of the twenty-first-century American dream. Zhuang and Little Yan's challenges reveal a world hidden in plain sight: the byzantine network of employment agencies and language schools, of underground banks and illegal dormitories that allow immigrants to survive. Amid a raging immigration debate on the national stage, Hilgers' deeply reported and beautifully wrought account paints a revealing portrait of just what it takes to survive."
Time for a confession - I did not read any reviews of this book before I started reading, and it took me quite a few chapters to determine whether this book was a novel or a true story. This is probably the greatest charm of "Patriot Number One." The author tells this story in a way that makes you feel as if you are reading a novel; it lacks the dryness that plagues many nonfiction/memoirs.
I also really enjoyed learning about Chinese culture through the unique lens of an immigrant/asylum-seeking family. The author does a good job of not generalizing the culture, while still giving us many details on what it's like to be in this particular situation. The story concludes in 2017, so there are several recent real life events included. I personally felt that I learned a lot, both about Chinese culture and the experience of new immigrants in America.
This isn't the world's most exciting book - there are several spots where there isn't much action other than the description of the characters' day-to-day lives. That being said, it is an extremely informative and original nonfiction that reads like a novel. If you are in the market to learn something without risking being bored, this is a great book for you!
If you are interested in reading this book, please consider using my link to purchase it from Amazon and help support Blonde Bibliotaph.
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