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Summary: Excellent depiction of the lives of the old-timer generation
Review: ...and an important piece of American and Filipino history. How could the new generation of immigrants and US born Filipinos believe that these atrocities happened to their predecessors to this country? Bulosan tells the tale that America chooses to ignore, and many things are brought to light that our American textbooks never taught us: for example, the fact that the United Farmworkers Union was actually started by progressive Filipinos (why is the great Cesar Chavez the only acknowledged icon of that movement?) and the colonial ties that have existed between the Philippines and the United States for most of this century. Filipinos are in this country for a reason, for the promise of America injected in us and our parents by a colonial schooling system in the motherland, and because of the ideal of fortune and freedom that so many of us refuse to give up. This is a story of heroes, of men made small by desperation and loneliness, history and circumstance, heroes who stand up against enemies much stronger than them, and in that is victory.
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Summary: The Tears of my Father and Mother
Review: A superb literary work ! When I read Carlos's writings, it brought tears to my eyes. He was writing about my father and mother's hardships and triumps in the 1950's Livermore and Pleasanton area of California. We were one of the first Filipino families of that area and my parents worked hard through all the hardships to graduate five children from major California universities. As Filipino Americans we owe much to the Manong generation. Many of the Manong generation are buried with full military honors. Many have fought and died alongside their brothers from the midwest, the south and all over America.It's a tribute to a proud segment of the Greatest Generation of America , the WWII generation.
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Summary: The spirit of immigrant struggle as revealed to a WASP.
Review: As a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant male who planned to enter into the field of Human Services delivery in the mid-1970's I found Bulosan's book to be a most revealing and inspiring work. The almost spiritual quest for the mythical America in the face of racism in its multiple and treacherous manifestations has helped to shape my own pursuit of a social work career for more than 25 years.
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Summary: A powerful tale every immigrant to America should read!
Review: Bulosan is the voice of this era. If you must learn anything about Filipino-American history, read this beautiful prose. His autobiography reads like a novel! The first time I could barely put it down and have re-read passages over and over. The struggle he brings to life can touch any immigrant's soul. He is not only telling the story of his life history, but of the history of America's immigrant struggle. The story is universal in the humanity it brings to the reader.
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Summary: The Triumph of Courage
Review: Carlos Bulosan captures the struggles of migrant farm workers with exact details. Reading this book taught me that courage is not about crossing the finish line, but daring to run with the knowledge that you won't finish. I recommend this book to everyone because it is so easy to loose hope in society or oneself. America is in the Heart chronicles Bulosan's home in the Philipines and immigration to America. What he discovers reveals the subtle and obvious barriers present in our world
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Summary: Not a really a review, but a sharing of experiences (sorta)
Review: Essential reading? I dunno. Nonetheless, Bulosan's story is intensely personal and has historical weight in its documentation of the migrant experience. His isn't unique in any regard and you need only look around at the fields that hug the California freeways to catch a glimpse of migrant workers who are, to this day, living experiences similar to what Bulosan described then -- migrating up and down the coast, often without papers and in fear of authority; work conditions that can be intensely hot and bitterly cold, as well as low-paying and piecemeal; often overcramped living quarters; meager or no health services for those who suffer illness; rampant alcoholism and drug use to deaden one's existence. That the book was written several decades ago indicates that not much has changed, except for the major ethnicity of those in the fields. But enough about that. I acquired a copy of this book from a friend, from an affluent California family who had it assigned to her in a college class, which I believe was her own forced attempt to learn more about a Filipino now-ex-boyfriend's heritage. Her quick assessment: "boring." I, on the other hand, found it fascinating, because of the similar experiences my uncle went through prior to and during his time as a migrant worker in Dole's pineapple fields in the Marshall Islands: both my father and uncle described to me stories of being poverty-stricken working the land, then Japanese occupation driving them further into destitution, which eventually drove them to seek a better life in what Maxine Hong Kingston's relatives describe as "The Golden Mountain" in her book "China Men." My uncle related the harsh working conditions in the fields; the ethnic infighting (dark-skinned vs. "mestizos") and culture clashes among differing ethnic groups. His world didn't seem as brutal as Bulosan's, but the mere memory of my dad's and uncle's stories can be stirred up by reading passages from Bulosan's book. (My father's route took him to California by way of recruitment into the Navy prior to the Korean War; this is not covered in the book, although "America..." does cover laws and enactions that affected Filipinos in the preface.) My dear, departed godfathers where also migrant workers; I don't remember their stories, but I do remember visiting them in their migrant co-op housing in Oxnard, where I remember the smell of Jim Beam, pipe tobacco, and oranges, in the fields now covered over by parking lots and strip malls. To sum it up: Intensely personal story that might be lost on some readers (such as my friend); if you're Filipino, read this book. If you're of another ethnicity whose part of the migratory experience of California, it's worth reading for a comparison to other, similar stories.
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Summary: Enlightening for a young struggling mestiza
Review: I am not that old, so many think that I am not that wise. I will agree to a point, where I am not as wise as my elders. I think that this book really explains the hardships and the struggles that my manongs faced for me to be here. Well for all my people my age really! How else will young filipinos find out they're 3rd wave? I didn't know! Why is that most young Filipinos say they're proud to be filipino, but if you ask them why...they just shrug their shoulders? I was always told to read this book for my Filipino Hertiage class, but never got a chance to. I only wish i would have read it earlier, maybe I would of known that being Filipino is more than bleaching your hair and modifying your car. And I think that those who read this will find that out as well.
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Summary: The Manong Generation
Review: This book is about my father, Dionisio U. Halog, an American Hero in WW2 as all of the Filipinos who fought for the red, white and blue. The manong generation is explicitly defined in Carlos's writings. My father was one of many who worked the plantations in Hawaii,Arizona and California and when the call to battle rang he joined many brave Filipino warriors do defend American honor. The racism inflicted on these proud men did not break their spirit as Carlos defines that spirit in his many examples. My father is buried in Golden Gate National cemetary with many heroes of our country. I thank Carlos Bulosan for his insight on this generation of proud men and I'm dammed proud tht I'm the son of one of them.
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Summary: The Manong Generation
Review: This book is about my father, Dionisio U. Halog, an American Hero in WW2 as all of the Filipinos who fought for the red, white and blue. The manong generation is explicitly defined in Carlos's writings. My father was one of many who worked the plantations in Hawaii,Arizona and California and when the call to battle rang he joined many brave Filipino warriors do defend American honor. The racism inflicted on these proud men did not break their spirit as Carlos defines that spirit in his many examples. My father is buried in Golden Gate National cemetary with many heroes of our country. I thank Carlos Bulosan for his insight on this generation of proud men and I'm dammed proud tht I'm the son of one of them.
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Summary: An essential read for students of Asian-American history.
Review: This book is an essential read for those who wish to learn more about the various Asian ethnic groups that have shaped America in the early 20th century. Carlos Bulosan, in this autobiography, describes his days of hunger, pain, loneliness, joy, whimsy and fantasy in "big brother's" country, America, with fellow Filipino "manongs" and sometimes not-so-friendly Americans. This book will touch your heart and make any Filipino-American remember and appreciate his or her roots.
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