Welcome to Immigrant Literature
While these individual titles vary widely from each other, they collectively attempt to deal with the immigrant's experience of coming to America -- settling and assimilating into a new culture and feeling at odds with society -- as well as Western influences on life outside the U.S.
Try these...
In the Language of Miracles by Call Number: PS3608.A858 I5 2015ISBN: 0525428135Publication Date: 2015
The Book of Unknown Americans by Call Number: PS3608.E565 B66 2014ISBN: 0385350848Publication Date: 2014
May the Road Rise up to Meet You by Call Number: PS3620.R685 M39 2012ISBN: 0307743578Publication Date: 2012
Unaccustomed Earth by Call Number: PS3562.A316 U53 2008ISBN: 9780307278258Publication Date: 2009Unaccustomed earth -- Hell-heaven -- A choice of accommodations -- Only goodness -- Nobody's business -- Hema and Kaushik -- Once in a lifetime -- Year's end -- Going ashore.
Brother, I'm Dying by Call Number: PS3554.A5815 Z46 2007ISBN: 9781400041152Publication Date: 2007Danticat came to think of her uncle Joseph, a charismatic pastor, as her "second father" when she was placed in his care at age four when her parents left Haiti for America. So she experiences a jumble of emotions when, at twelve, she joins her parents, whom she struggles to remember, in New York City - she has left behind Joseph and the only home she's ever known.
Digging to America by Call Number: PS3570.Y45 D47 2006ISBN: 0307263940Publication Date: 2006Two families awaiting the arrival of their adopted infant daughters from Korea meet at the airport. The families' lives become interwined after the Donaldsons, a young American couple invite the Yazdan's, Maryam, her son and his Iranian American wife to an arrival party, which becomes an annual event. A penetrating light on the American way as seen from two perspectives, those who are born here and those who are still struggling to fit in.
Absurdistan by Call Number: PS3619.H79 A63 2006ISBN: 1400061962Publication Date: 2006Absurdistan is the story of Misha Vainberg, aka "Snack Daddy." The son of a Jewish Russian Gangster, "Snack" got an education at a ritzy private American college called Accidental, kind of a cross between Antioch and Oberlin. After his father assassinates a competitor, a guy from Oklahoma, "Snack Daddy" is unable to obtain a visa to return from Russia to his beloved New York. Misha is determined to find a way back to America.
Samba Dreamers by Call Number: PS3601.Z483 S26 2006ISBN: 0816524904Publication Date: 2006Brazilian-Americans
Música de la acería (Music of the Mill) by Call Number: PS3568.O34879 M8718 2005ISBN: 9780060842529Publication Date: 2007(In Spanish language). Within the multigenerational saga of the Salcido family and its deep ties to the Nazareth Steel Mill, Rodriguez's main character is 20-year-old Johnny, a second-generation mill worker who tries to fight the abusive powers-that-be inside the operation's corporate and union hierarchies (Publishers Weekly review).
Empire Rising by Call Number: PS3561.E39717 E47 2005ISBN: 0374147817Publication Date: 2005Irish-Americans
Master Butchers Singing Club by Call Number: PS3555.R42 M37 2003ISBN: 0066209773Publication Date: 2003German-Americans
The Bridegroom: Stories by Call Number: PS3560.I6 Q54 2001ISBN: 0375724931Publication Date: 2001Saboteur -- Alive -- In the kindergarten -- A tiger-fighter is hard to find -- Broken -- The bridegroom -- An entrepreneur's story -- Flame -- A bad joke -- An official reply -- The woman from New York -- After Cowboy Chicken came to town.
Growing Up Ethnic in America : Contemporary Fiction about Learning to Be American by Call Number: PS647.E85 G76 1999ISBN: 0140280634Publication Date: 1999An anthology on ethnic groups divided into several sections. One comprises stories on ethnics absorbed into the mainstream of American society, a second is on people who straddle the divide, while a third is on people attempting to reconnect with the Old Country.
The Aguero Sisters by Call Number: PS3557.A66 A73 1998ISBN: 0345406516Publication Date: 1998Reina and Constancia Aguero are Cuban sisters who have been estranged for thirty years. Reina--tall, darkly beautiful, and magnetically sexual--still lives in her homeland. The pale and petite Constancia lives in the United States, a beauty expert who sees miracles and portents wherever she looks. After she and her husband retire to Miami, she becomes haunted by the memory of her parents and the unexplained death of her beloved mother so long ago.
East Goes West by Call Number: PS3521.A444 E27 1997ISBN: 1885030118Publication Date: 1997Korean-Americans
Mercy of a Rude Stream by Call Number: PS3535.O787 M47 1995ISBN: 0312119291Publication Date: 1995Mercy of a Rude Stream is a monumental epic published in four volumes. It follows protagonist Ira Stigman from his family’s arrival in Jewish-Irish Harlem in 1914 to the night before Thanksgiving in 1927, when Ira decides to leave the family tenement and move in with Edith Welles (Wikipedia).
Popular authors
Caribbean-Americans
- Jamaica Kincaid (Caribbean)
- Edwidge Danticat (Haitian)
- Julia Alvarez (Dominican)
- Junot Diaz (Dominican)
- Cristina Garcia (Cuban)
Chinese-Americans
- Gish Jen
- Amy Tan
- Ha Jin
Irish-Americans
- Frank McCourt
- Roddy Doyle
Mexican-Americans
- T.C. Boyle
- Luis Rodriguez
Jewish-Americans
- Saul Bellow
- Amy Bloom
- David Bezmozgis
- Henry Roth
- Michael Chabon
Italian-Americans
- Tina De Rosa
Russian-Americans
- Gary Shteyngart
Greek-Americans
- Jeffrey Eugenides
Korean-Americans
- Chang-rae Lee
Middle-Eastern-Americans
- Andre Dubus (Iranian)
- Jhumpa Lahiri (East Indian)
- Dave Eggers (Arab)
- Khaled Hosseini (Afghan)
African-Americans
- Dinaw Mengestu (Ethiopian)
American-Indian
- Louise Erdrich
- Sherman Alexie
- Michael Dorris
Do you have a favorite book you would like to share? Are there any other authors you would recommend? Feel free to share your thoughts by clicking on the "comments" button below...
Immigrant Literature Criticism
To find literary criticism about immigrant fiction, use the search box on the library home page to do a subject search for "immigrants fiction." Or do a subject search for "immigrants in literature."
Or try any of the following titles:
On DVD
The Joy Luck Club
Call Number: PN1993.5.C4 J6 2000 (media - main floor)ISBN: 078883603XFollows the story of four lifelong friends, whose lives are filled with joy and heartbreak, and shows how their experiences have affected the hopes and dreams they hold for each of their children.
The Kite RunnerCall Number: PN1995.9.S87 K584 2008 (media - main floor)ISBN: 1415738548In a divided country on the verge of war, two childhood friends, Amir and Hassan, are about to be torn apart forever. It's a glorious afternoon in Kabul and the skies are bursting with the exhilarating joy of a kite-fighting tournament. But in the aftermath of the day's victory, one boy's fearful act of betrayal will mark their lives forever and set in motion an epic quest for redemption.
Green cardCall Number: PN1997 .G74 2003ISBN: 078881625XTwo strangers agree to a marriage of convenience. She gets the apartment of her dreams and he gets a green card to live in the U.S. The two encounter difficulties, and even worse, they just might be falling in love.
