Customer Reviews

East to America: Korean American Life Stories

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book emphasizes the importance of oral history. Although you might not find polished masterpieces here, "East to America" accomplishes the much-needed task of placing Korean-American voices within a more prominent context--or at least publishes their voices. Praise for Elaine Kim & Co. for compiling the book; in my own research there has been slim pickins as far as the K.A. literature goes). But, as a "second generation" (American-born) Korean-American, I was disappointed to find that few members of my own generation (X?) were included in the collection (But it makes sense; after all, the book is called "East to America" ...bah). I found the stories gritty and real, and it was hard to put the book down. I would recommend this book to not only any Korean-American, but to anyone who is interested in viewing the Korean-American population as something more than gun-toting greengrocers or model minority geeks.

For the reader who is looking to take a look at modern

Korean Americans, this book is well worth the buy. It

is not only highly entertaining but also very educational

as it explores the lives of many different Korean Americans

including some well known members of the Korean American

community. One negative aspect of the book is that because

it does cover the stories of the so many Korean Americans

I found the stories sometimes to be a little brief. Maybe

it was because I was enjoying the book so much that I wanted

to read more and more.

One final note. Elaine Kim is highly active in the Korean

American community and has even produced Sa-I-Gu,

(which means 4-2-9 which is the date of the riots), a movie

about the L.A. riots in perspective of Korean American Women

I have grown a deep appreciation and respect for my Korean/American friends and neighbors. There is a tremendous sampling of real-life stories that I found to be very informative. Many of the problems in the world cultivate from a lack of understanding. However, the more we can learn aobut eachother and ourselves, the easier it will be to find common ground. This book has taught me a great deal about the struggles, agonies, and triumphs of Korean Americans.

I love reading about people in other countries, about human stories. Many times after reading this type of book, you realize that you are so lucky to be an USA citizen.

As a 1.5 generation, I really enjoyed the book. The life stories range from the 1900's immigrants to the most recent.

To the authors: how about a book based on the immigrants on the eastcoast?