The Latehomecomer
A Hmong Family Memoir
Published on 25. May 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
312 pages
978-1-56689-478-4 (ISBN)
Description
One Hmong family's harrowing escape from war in Laos to the uncertainty of a new home as refugees in Minnesota.
Yang's award-winning memoir of her family's harrowing escape from war in Laos is a love letter to her grandmother, a troubling portrait of the consequences of US intervention in Southeast Asia, and a glimpse into the little-seen exodus of the Hmong people, first to refugee camps in Thailand and then, for many, to new homes in Minnesota.
Yang's award-winning memoir of her family's harrowing escape from war in Laos is a love letter to her grandmother, a troubling portrait of the consequences of US intervention in Southeast Asia, and a glimpse into the little-seen exodus of the Hmong people, first to refugee camps in Thailand and then, for many, to new homes in Minnesota.
Reviews / Votes
Praise for The LatehomecomerWinner of the 2009 Minnesota Book Award
Winner of a Readers Choice Award
Winner of the 2008 Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award
An NEA Big Read selection
"This is the best account of the Hmong experience I've ever read-powerful, heartbreaking, and unforgettable." -Anne Fadiman
"Packed with the stuff of life." -Entertainment Weekly
"Yang tells her family's story with grace; she narrates their struggles, beautifully weaving in Hmong folklore and culture." -Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A natural storyteller. Yang chronicles her family's journey and draws the reader into the Hmong culture." -Library Journal, starred review
"[Yang] tells her family's story with outstanding beauty and lyricism." -St. Paul Pioneer Press
"Yang intimately chronicles the immigrant experience from the Hmong perspective, providing a long-overdue contribution to the history and literature of ethnic America." -Booklist
"This memoir is the first of its kind to correctly chronicle the lives of [the] Hmong." -International Examiner
"An ode to the thousands of Hmong families in our metro. . . . This is among the most important Minnesota books." -Metro Magazine
"Splendorous. . . . [Yang] forces the reader to question memory, power, and authority in America." -Feminist Review
"Yang's love and devotion to her family and the Hmong people shines on every page. . . . A necessary read about the human experience." -Hmong Times
"The Latehomecomer is a wonderful journey into the very personal experiences of its author, and it is also a story about so many of us. Reading this book is about experiencing the Hmong American transformation." -Mee Moua, MN State Senator
"Across jungles, refugee camps, and oceans, The Latehomecomer is a journey to the center of everything: one's fast-held understanding of home." -Cris Beam
"Yang has fashioned a bittersweet and engrossing epic that is mythic in its beauty, tenderness, and power." -Honor Moore
"An impressive debut by a writer with an enchanting voice, The Latehomecomer reveals all that is worth knowing about endurance, the power of a family's love, and hope in the face of desperation." -Patricia O'Toole
More details
Edition
Second Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
MN
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 151 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
421 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-56689-478-4 (9781566894784)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2017
Coffee House Press
€16.49
Available for download
Person
Kao Kalia Yang is a teacher, public speaker, and writer. Yang is the author of the award-winning book The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir (Coffee House Press, 2008) and the book The Song Poet (Metropolitan Books, 2016). She is a graduate of Carleton College and Columbia University's School of the Arts. Yang lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her family.