SEATTLE — Author and poet Roya Hakakian settled in American over 35 years ago, leaving her homeland of Iran. Her latest book, "A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO AMERICA: For the Immigrant and the Curious" is written as guide for the newly arrived, full of practical information and advice. But the book is also for the American. Her hope is that it will shed light on the immigrant experience, and the way we see each other. She joins New Day NW to discuss the book and more.
ABOUT THE BOOK: "A Beginner's Guide to America" is a timely and timeless assessment of what it means to be American at this moment in time, as well as a challenge for native-born Americans to remember the significance of the US’s racial multiplicity, founding ideals, and democratic principles not just for our own country, but for those around the world. “The more the nation became suspicious of immigrants and the country seemed to be pulled into the two extreme binary camps,” Roya recently wrote, “the more I felt compelled to find the most disarming way I could to get readers to see America, whatever its errors, through the perspective of one who had escaped tyranny, and knows the price of silencing dissent in the name of protecting the weak or placing the love of ideology above that of freedom and openness.” What she has done here is just that. Written as a guidebook, here Roya offers up anecdotes about the woes and wonders of American life; practical advice for the overwhelming experience of transition; and the sharp, witty observations of someone who is observing this place with fresh eyes. She reveals what those who settle here love about the country, what they miss about their homes, the cruelty of some Americans, and the unceasing generosity of others. She captures the texture of life in a new place in all its complexity, laying bare both its beauty and its darkness as she discusses race, sex, love, death, consumerism, and what it is like to be from a country that is in America’s crosshairs.
Segment Producer Suzie Wiley. Watch New Day Northwest 11 AM weekdays on KING 5 and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day.