East Goes West: The Making of an Oriental Yankee (KAYA/MUAE)

Fiction. Asian-American Studies. "EAST GOES WEST is a stunning testament to Younghill Kang's indomitable spirit, his perspicacious eye, and his special mirth. The book provides us with a rare view of how urban American life was experienced-and critiqued-by Korean immigrants in the 1920s"-Elaine Kim. Having fled Japanese-occupied Korea for the gleaming promise of the United States, Han lands in New York with only four dollars and a suitcase full of Shakespeare to his name. Struggling to support his studies, Han becomes by turns traveling salesman, domestic worker, and farmer. In the process, he observes the idealism, greed, and shifting values of the industrializing twentieth century. In its beautifully nuanced portrayal of Han's spiritual evolution and revolutions, its richly detailed examination of a cosmopolitan immigrant subculture, and its biting portraits of racism, alienation, and hypocrisy at every level of society, EAST GOES WEST is a unique American classic.