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Original Essays | September 23, 2009

Jonathan Lethem: IMG Stops: On Those Things My New Novel Forgot to Be About, Maybe



For me, there's a weird, unfathomable gulf — I almost wrote gulp — between the completion of a novel and its publication. Some days this duration feels interminable, as though the book has... Continue »
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4 Burnside Ethnic Studies- Japanese American
4 Burnside Pacific Northwest- Diaries and Memoirs

Stubborn Twig: Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese American Family (Oregon Reads)

by Lauren Kessler

Stubborn Twig: Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese American Family (Oregon Reads) Cover

ISBN13: 9780870714177
ISBN10: 0870714171
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Stubborn Twig is a classic American story, a story of immigrants making their way in a new land. It is a living work of social history that rings with the power of truth and the drama of fiction, a moving saga about the challenges of becoming an American. Masuo Yasui traveled from Japan across the other Oregon Trailathe one that spanned the Pacific Oceanain 1903. Like most immigrants, he came with big dreams and empty pockets. Working on the railroads, in a cannery, and as a houseboy before settling in Hood River, Oregon, he opened a store, raised a large family, and became one of the areaas most successful orchardists.As Masuo broke the race barrier in the local business community, his American-born children broke it in school, scouts and sports, excelling in most everything they tried. For the Yasuisa first-born son, the constraints and contradictions of being both Japanese and American led to tragedy. But his seven brothers and sisters prevailed, becoming doctors, lawyers, teachers, and farmers. It was a classic tale of the American dream come trueauntil December 7, 1941, changed their lives forever. The Yasuis were among the more than 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry along the West Coast who were forced from their homes and interned in vast inland arelocation camps.a Masuo was arrested as a spy and imprisoned for the rest of the war; his family was shamed and broken. Yet the Yasuis endured, as succeeding generations took up the challenge of finding their identity as Americans. Stubborn Twig is their storyaa story at once tragic and triumphant, one that bears eloquent witness to both the promise and the peril of America.

Synopsis:

In 1903, Masuo Yasui came to America and eventually became a successful orchardist and father of eight children. But the "relocation" of Japanese Americans during World War II caused Yasui to take his own life. The Yasui family opened its records and memories to Lauren Kessler, who writes a social history that rings with truth and drama. Photographs.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Hillary Garrett, December 19, 2008 (view all comments by Hillary Garrett)
This book is the official selection for Oregon Reads 2009, which is a community reads program that will take place in nearly every public library and in every county in Oregon during the state's sesquicentennial, January through April of 2009.

Learn more about Oregon Reads at www.oregonreads2009.org and be sure to check with your local library about Oregon Reads book discussions, author visits, and other events!
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780870714177
Subtitle:
Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese American Family
Author:
Kessler, Lauren
Foreword:
Kulongoski, Theodore R.
Publisher:
Oregon State University Press
Subject:
Ethnic Cultures - General
Subject:
Regional Subjects - West
Subject:
Ethnic Studies - Asian American Studies
Copyright:
Series:
Oregon Reads
Publication Date:
October 2008
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
308
Dimensions:
854x638x66 96

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