Tag: melting pot
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Memoirs teach cultural anthropology in modernity
Al Badre’s story describes far more than one man’s move from Beirut to the United States. The memoir represents a new way for all of us to find the best in ourselves and to see the best in each other.
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A Memoir of a Girl’s Urgent Need to Find Identity
An author’s search for identity is one of my favorite themes in a memoir. On the surface, such an introspective search might not seem important enough to motivate me to read and enjoy a whole book. And yet, when I think back on the problems of growing up, my own search for identity drove me…
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Fiction built on a foundation of real life
Fiction seems entirely different from memoirs. And yet, when I carefully compare the two forms, I discover they are intimately connected, each breathing life into the other. A good memoir is more than just a raw dump of facts. It generates dramatic tension by using fiction techniques like suspense and character development. And the support…
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Iranian in America makes love and laughter
While Firoozeh’s neighbors in the United States weren’t sure how to relate to her, I had no such confusion. She took me into her confidence and I saw for myself who she was, thanks to her superb command of the English language, and her clever, ironic insights. “She’s one of us.” I thought. And even…
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Barack Obama’s memoir ends with a homecoming
I think Obama raised this question beautifully, and without answering it, let the story do his work for him, by showing us what it was like for him to visit his African family, and let us feel it, see it, hear it ourselves through the art of storytelling.
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