Diary of a Reluctant Dreamer
Undocumented Vignettes from a Pre-American Life
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
In this hybrid memoir, Alberto Ledesma wonders, At what point does a long-time undocumented immigrant become an American in the making? From undocumented little boy to “hyper documented” university professor, Ledesma recounts how even now, he sometimes finds himself reverting to the child he was, recalling his father’s words: “Mijo, it doesn’t matter how good you think your English is, la migra will still get you.”
Exploring Ledesma’s experiences from immigrant to student to academic, Diary of a Reluctant Dreamer presents a humorous, gritty, and multilayered portrait of undocumented immigrant life in urban America. Ledesma’s vignettes about life in the midst of ongoing social trauma give voice to a generation that has long been silent about its struggles. Delving into the key moments of cultural transition throughout his childhood and adulthood—police at the back door waiting to deport his family, the ex-girlfriend who threatens to call INS and report him, and the interactions with law enforcement even after he is no longer undocumented—Ledesma, through his art and his words, provides a glimpse into the psychological and philosophical concerns of undocumented immigrant youth who struggle to pinpoint their identity and community.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As a teacher and administrator at University of California, Berkeley, Ledesma doesn't fit the stereotypical image of the undocumented immigrant. But that's the point of this book, which is part graphic memoir and part cri de coeur. Ledesma and his parents, who brought him over from Mexico in 1974, were given legal status by Ronald Reagan's 1986 amnesty bill. The tension and need for camouflage that preceded their change in status, as well as the rising nativist backlash, fuel his politically barbed autobiographical cartoons. Much of Ledesma's concern is directed at the people for whom the possibility of being unmasked as "undocumented" remains a constant threat no matter how hard they work, how civically dedicated they are, and what professional achievements they attain. Although his art is rudimentary and his writing can be repetitive, this is a powerful document of the unspoken anxieties felt by Americans like him who worry that their immigration status and history will overshadow everything else in their lives.
