Yes, the American Dream
by Marjory Hall
Hi! I’m Marjory Hall from Goodwell, Oklahoma, back with another Radio Readers BookByte for the Radio Reader’s Spring 2026 season.
I teach my students that the title of a book can be very important in understanding that work. This is true for Shing Yin Khor’s graphic novel The American Dream? That tiny question mark in the title carries an enormous weight in conveying the author’s theme. Can there possibly be one, definitive American Dream? Can there possibly be any definitive description of an American?
Graphic novels are not my usual first choice, but I heartily recommend this one. Khor’s artwork is beautiful, and their appreciation for the quirky makes this an enjoyable read. It is the text, though, that addresses one of the most pressing questions facing America today, a question that has been debated for 250 years. What is the American Dream? Who are Americans? Route 66 is a good analogy for answering this question.
At one time, what has become known as Route 66 was a mere collection of unpaved trails, the byproducts of the daily routines of the local people. One American took the initiative to connect those trails into a road to serve his daily routines. The general public recognized a good thing and utilized the new route for their daily routines.
Other Americans recognized a market for entertaining and serving travelers in the first flush of our long-term love affair with automobiles. Those travelers embraced the oddities of Route 66 as part of the daily routine of American life. That is how some of the most enduring cultural icons grow in the United States—organically, from someone’s idea, not by the command of a church or government.
An American is a person who acts independently to make the world what they want and need it to be. Americans at their best love creative effort, what President Theordore Roosevelt called “rugged individualism.” Canadian poet Leonard Cohen called the United States “the cradle of the best of the worst” (38). According to Cohen, “It’s here they’ve got the range / and the machinery for change / And it’s here they’ve got the spiritual thirst” (40-2).
There are as many American Dreams as there are Americans. Whereas Khor’s pleasure is to explore, I am a homebody. The freedom for both those ideals to be American Dreams is at the heart of the United States’ culture. Is the path to an American Dream always smooth? No. Does everyone’s American Dream end as they expected? No. Are there some Americans who are intolerant, unwelcoming, and obstructive? Yes, unfortunately. The freedom to fight for one’s own dream is the beauty of the United States. It is up to all Americans to engage in that fight and refuse to bow to authorities that would dictate our dreams or our futures.
In my mind, Khor’s illustration on pages 78 and 79 define an American: a person who is inspired by the magnitude of a desert night sky instead of intimidated by its enormity. A person who sets out on a road trip accompanied only by a faithful dog and who savors the unexpected relationships and experiences along the way is undoubtedly an American.
Anyone who says otherwise is wrong.
I’m Marjory Hall with a Radio Readers’ BookByte.
Work Cited
Cohen, Leonard. “Democracy.” https://genius.com/Leonard-cohen-democracy-lyrics.
