The debut novel by Henry Roth, CALL IT SLEEP is an autobiographically inspired tale set early in the second decade of the 20th century and tracing the experiences of a boy coming of age in the Jewish slums of New York City's Lower East Side.
In CHINA MEN, Maxine Hong Kingston uses a combination of myth, history, legend, and memory to relate the unique nature of the Chinese-American experience.
Comprised of a series of poetic vignettes, THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET is the coming-of-age story of Esperanza, a Mexican-American girl growing up in a Latino neighborhood in Chicago.
The daughter of an Ojibwa-French mother and German-American father, Louise Erdrich was raised in Wahpeton, North Dakota, and writes about the hybrid lives of contemporary Native Americans.
Famous for her novels about Nebraska and the American Southwest, Willa Cather had a deep love of the land and a strong distaste for the materialism and conformism she saw in modern life. Her novels often question customary ways of thinking and feeling, especially in their pioneering depictions of strong female characters.
ELEMENTS OF THE NOVEL:
Characters, Symbols & Content
A second generation Chinese American, Gish Jen often focuses her writing around themes of immigration, assimilation, the "American dream" and the occasional tensions between ethnic communities.
Take the Quiz: Which two childhood friends later modeled characters in their books after one another?
Symbols: In what novel are shoes a symbol of sex to a young Chicana girl?
To Tell the Truth: My signature line is, "I'd always be miserable in the city. I'd die of lonesomeness."
Context & Hypertext: Read an interview with Chang-rae Lee about the books and writers that inspired him.
