Identity Lessons Contemporary Writing About Learning to Be American

Identity Lessons features selections by Sherman Alexie, Marie Howe, Amiri Baraka, and a wide array of our finest contemporary writers. These stories and poems examine the struggle between the need to belong and the undeniable influence of each individual's cultural roots. In pieces that question the common definition of "American," some of the sharpest and most original voices writing today give their ethnic perspectives on growing up in America.