Fascinated by the American Dream
by Miriam Scott
Hello booklovers, Miriam Scott here from Amarillo, Texas. Today I get to share with you my thoughts on the wonderfully written and illustrated book The American Dream? by author and artist Shing Yin Khor.
There are a few things she and I have in common. We are both naturalized immigrants, love traveling alone, and we are both fascinated with the American Dream and the many different shapes this Dream takes in such a vast country of great diversity.
Her way of exploring the American Dream, is to travel Route 66 from start to finish, or rather the other way around. She starts in Los Angeles where she lives and finishes her immersive journey in Chicago. Khor travels light, very light. She and her dog, named Bug, spend most nights in her car, but she also visits friends along the road that offer respite and a couch.
On Route 66 Khor encounters parts of the US very much unlike what she calls the LA bubble. Ever since she read The Grapes of Wrath as a kid, this iconic highway has been her dream road trip, as I read along, I am excited with her. I love the places she chooses to explore, the bits of Americana she highlights, and how open and friendly both fellow travelers and locals are.
For the most part.
In Tucumcari, a town I drive through frequently, one motel advertises that it is “American Owned.” I have to admit to my discredit; I never noticed it. Because while I am an immigrant, I am a white immigrant. American owned to me just meant someone who lives here and calls the US their home, it was a no brainer. It’s a motel in America. Of course it’s American owned. But the author does not have this privilege.
So, I learn in her book about the racist term Patel-Motel, a derogative name describing motels owned by Indian Americans. Advertising as “American Owned” is a silent yet brutal way of telling a whole section of our society that they are not welcome.
I find this wholly un- American. And isn’t that ironic.
As I cannot relate to the experience of racism, I am grateful for the way Khor illustrates it in such a personable and tangible manner.
I do however deeply relate to one of the experiences she shares with us. She visits with her friend Leslie and her family and friends. This is a fairly large and tight-knit group spanning three generations. Spending time with them is somewhat bittersweet as it reminds Khor that as an immigrant she doesn’t have this kind of family connection. A constant change of address, not having any roots, is too hard on most relationships. And sometimes I wonder what a life with roots is like. Then Khor hits me with this line: “I’ve been wrapped up in trying to find something that feels like home instead of questioning why I even think that’s so important.”
I love a good question. Is it important to feel at home, and if so, why? I love this question, because trying to answer why a home is important can lead to that special place, that kind of home that is right for us, fits us.
I do believe feeling like you belong is important. And I believe that belonging does not look the same for everyone. Home can be stable and consistent, and it can be fluid and nomadic. It can be a bit of both. What is important to you, what do you need to feel at home. It’s a great question that should be asked often.
The author has a way of living into this question that is contagious and invites her readers to find their own answers. What is home, and what is the American Dream that Khor calls exhausting yet eternally hopeful. Does the American Dream have room for the homes of all its dreamers?
Speaking of which, in the Epilogue Khor shares that this road trip took place before the elections in 2016. She writes: “This comic feels like a record of a time when a brown girl could drive America fearlessly.”
That was ten years ago.
How have we answered the question of the American Dream this past decade? Who has access to it? Who here feels like they belong? And is this really the American Dream we believe in, what is important to us for our home- country?
For the HPPR Radio Lovers Book Club, this was Miriam Scott from Amarillo Texas.
