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My New American Life (2011)

by Francine Prose(Favorite Author)

3.18 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0061713767 (ISBN13: 9780061713767)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

HarperTorch

review 1: Ms. Prose (please, someone tell me if this amazing surname is a pseudonym or not)makes Lula, our Albanian protagonist who presently holds a green card after staying in the country when her visitor visa expires, a beautifully honest character. Readers get to walk the blurry melding of Lula's past life in Albania--more than a depressed Communist upbringing under constant duress as Americans tend to stereotype--and her life in America which requires she be dependent on some well-meaning, but truly flawed individuals who feel most comfortable defining her by slapping the preconceived notions of an "Eastern bloc survivor" on her. Lies abound throughout the story, and reaaders will be encouraged to contemplate how dishonesty, perhaps, is paramount to each being's survival regard... moreless of her/his country of origin.
review 2: I really tried to like this book. I really tried to care about the characters. Unfortunately, this story of an newcomer's view of American life offered few new insights to me and just wasn't very engaging. The American father and his slacker son were two dimensional and trite. The details about Albania were the only interesting elements of the book. The parts about Lula's love life and her agonizing about her crush on the bad boy were beyond dull. Perhaps I was just the wrong audience for this book. I really expected more but was very disappointed. less

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