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truittclark's review
3.0
The Loneliest Americans is one of the first books I've read about the history of Asian immigrants to America. It was thought-provoking and brought up many events that I was previously unaware of. However, Kang seems too often to extrapolate his lived experience to other Asian-Americans, making generalizations based on his own life. After reading other reviews, it seems like this is a good starting point for examining Asian-American history, but the analysis should be taken as a look at Kang's life and not as thoughts shared by most Asian-Americans.
iqs's review
4.0
3.5 rounded up for the writing and for some unique insights.
I agree with some other reviewers that JCK generalizes a lot in order to be cooler than, and pass judgement on everyone else, but he's also often self-deprecating so I'll allow it.
I agree with some other reviewers that JCK generalizes a lot in order to be cooler than, and pass judgement on everyone else, but he's also often self-deprecating so I'll allow it.
ghannig's review
4.0
I enjoyed the insights into the life of Asian Americans provided by Jay in this book. Many of the ideas I was aware of and many I was not. I especially enjoyed the context provided into the friction between Koreans and African Americans in the LA area. I have spent a few years there, which was during the Rodney King Riots. I was aware of the frictions, which were played out as violence during those riots. However, it was very interesting to hear more of the historical context that had produced the feelings beneath those actions. I think that Jay did a good job of sharing personal stories that highlighted the systemic problems that Asian Americans have faced historically and continue to navigate today.
erafael2022's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
maralyons's review
4.0
The Loneliest Americans by Jay Caspian Kang is a fascinating blend of memoir and history documenting his experience and the history of many Asian Americans. As someone whose grandparents emigrated to the United States, I feel pretty separated from what they must have experienced, so I found it fascinating to consider what brings so many to the United States from other countries during the twentieth century. Though lumped together, Asian Americans have come to the United States from very different home countries with a huge variety of experiences and traumas.
Kang synthesizes a huge amount of information regarding politics and policies in the US and Asian countries. The “American Dream” has been so appealing to so many, while government action/interference from the US has directly lead to so many needing to leave their home countries in order to survive. The vast amount of dense information was a little daunting at times, so I found myself re-reading certain parts to better grasp the myriad history lessons since Americans aren’t taught very much about Asian countries in school.
Kang well illustrates the breadth of immigrant experiences and feeling of invisibility, loneliness, or not fitting in. With policy changes and who was accepted into the United States from other countries, it’s interesting to consider how Asian Americans tend to be put into two categories, either that of the successful students and professional that demonstrate “model minority” status, or the invisible working class and poor. Asian Americans are seen as sort of white, but not really white. Kang synthesizes US history including class, racism, misogyny, the civil rights movements, shifting immigration policies, and foreign policy and interference in Asian countries.
The book could be a little meandering at times and I got a sense of uneasiness or existential dread from the author’s perspective. Though it could be a little hard to pin down as his perspective sometimes seemed a little vague or hard to describe. I definitely appreciated his viewpoint and considering perspectives and experiences very different from my own. Overall, fascinating and illuminating nonfiction.
Thank you Crown Publishing and NetGalley for providing this ARC.
Kang synthesizes a huge amount of information regarding politics and policies in the US and Asian countries. The “American Dream” has been so appealing to so many, while government action/interference from the US has directly lead to so many needing to leave their home countries in order to survive. The vast amount of dense information was a little daunting at times, so I found myself re-reading certain parts to better grasp the myriad history lessons since Americans aren’t taught very much about Asian countries in school.
Kang well illustrates the breadth of immigrant experiences and feeling of invisibility, loneliness, or not fitting in. With policy changes and who was accepted into the United States from other countries, it’s interesting to consider how Asian Americans tend to be put into two categories, either that of the successful students and professional that demonstrate “model minority” status, or the invisible working class and poor. Asian Americans are seen as sort of white, but not really white. Kang synthesizes US history including class, racism, misogyny, the civil rights movements, shifting immigration policies, and foreign policy and interference in Asian countries.
The book could be a little meandering at times and I got a sense of uneasiness or existential dread from the author’s perspective. Though it could be a little hard to pin down as his perspective sometimes seemed a little vague or hard to describe. I definitely appreciated his viewpoint and considering perspectives and experiences very different from my own. Overall, fascinating and illuminating nonfiction.
Thank you Crown Publishing and NetGalley for providing this ARC.
bentohbox's review
3.0
2.5 //
I had higher hopes for this book than it met, to be quite honest. Kang is a pretty talented writer, and from reading his previous work, I thought that The Loneliest Americans was pretty replete with half-baked, lukewarm takes, as well as a lot of lacking in nuance. While I generally agree with some of the premises and points Kang makes, especially on the origins of Asian American identity and who clings to that identity today, I also think he makes some overly broad statements, tends to loop everyone into his own perspective on issues, and provides solutions that are not realistic. It's ok to have ideals, but I fall into the camp of having very little tolerance for people who speak with a microphone and don't have the personal experience or wherewithal to know what's purely idealistic and what's actually realistic.
In terms of style and prose, I think Kang did a fine job tracing the arc, but I also felt like there were a lot of unnecessary asides that detracted from whatever point he was trying to make. That, combined with his propensity to drop blanket statements with no further explanation or context and move on, made the reading a bit jarring and a bit convoluted. It read (as it may have been intended to read) like an overextended opinion piece masquerading as a generic column in the New York Times, which is fine for some audiences but certainly imbued with some literary, contextual, and dialectic fallacies that don't get addressed properly.
Overall, I think there was a lot of potential in this book, and there were some gems and pieces of the book that were informative, but overall I found myself either writing in question marks out of confusion about a statement or disagreeing with Kang's conclusions despite agreeing with his premises. That is, of course, a function of my own biases and opinions, and in some fashion it's healthy to have the variation in perspectives, but I don't quite see how this book helps advance any goals or narratives, or what the objective of writing this book was to begin with.
I had higher hopes for this book than it met, to be quite honest. Kang is a pretty talented writer, and from reading his previous work, I thought that The Loneliest Americans was pretty replete with half-baked, lukewarm takes, as well as a lot of lacking in nuance. While I generally agree with some of the premises and points Kang makes, especially on the origins of Asian American identity and who clings to that identity today, I also think he makes some overly broad statements, tends to loop everyone into his own perspective on issues, and provides solutions that are not realistic. It's ok to have ideals, but I fall into the camp of having very little tolerance for people who speak with a microphone and don't have the personal experience or wherewithal to know what's purely idealistic and what's actually realistic.
In terms of style and prose, I think Kang did a fine job tracing the arc, but I also felt like there were a lot of unnecessary asides that detracted from whatever point he was trying to make. That, combined with his propensity to drop blanket statements with no further explanation or context and move on, made the reading a bit jarring and a bit convoluted. It read (as it may have been intended to read) like an overextended opinion piece masquerading as a generic column in the New York Times, which is fine for some audiences but certainly imbued with some literary, contextual, and dialectic fallacies that don't get addressed properly.
Overall, I think there was a lot of potential in this book, and there were some gems and pieces of the book that were informative, but overall I found myself either writing in question marks out of confusion about a statement or disagreeing with Kang's conclusions despite agreeing with his premises. That is, of course, a function of my own biases and opinions, and in some fashion it's healthy to have the variation in perspectives, but I don't quite see how this book helps advance any goals or narratives, or what the objective of writing this book was to begin with.
superlegitjoy's review
4.0
Nice collection of essays. Kang is a great writer and I like his weaving of history, memoir, and contemporary “Asian American” issues. The book is also a good reminder, although somewhat limited in applications, of the pitfalls of identity politics. There’s a lot of thoughtful details in here and Kang’s prose makes it all go down pretty easy. I don’t think I agree with everything, but I certainly enjoyed the read.