Brother, I'm Dying: National Book Award Finalist

Like Bill Maher says, if you're not embarrassed being an American these days, then you must be dead. Edwidge Danticat's memoir BROTHER, I'M DYING, this year's National Book Award finalist, never points a "shame on you" finger at anyone. But once you've digested the dramatic, poignant and unsentimental experiences of her beautiful book, you will be ashamed and disgusted by America's kneejerk reactions to the many people who flock to this nation thinking it is still the land of opportunity. Edwidge's parents left her native Haiti when she was four years old, for the America of old where they might escape the oppressive strictures of the Duvalier government and make their way in a world of freedom and opportunity. Her parents left her and her brother in the care of her uncle Joseph, a man who profoundly affected the person she grew up to be. She calls him the man who "knew all the verses for love." (Who wouldn't want such an epitaph?) Until she was 12, he and his family guided her as one of their own. As an enthusiastic pastor, he made moral lessons sing for her and was able to encourage her interests in nursing as well as writing. At the age of 12, however, her parents called her to New York, where she was reunited with her younger siblings and the father she had barely known before. Leaving behind Joseph and her colorful extended family was exceedingly difficult and emotional for her. In fact, once she left, Joseph was stricken with an illness that kept him from speaking --- so Edwidge and her brother who had lived with him could not even talk to him by phone. She concentrated instead on her studies while fearing more and more each day the deteriorating political system in her homeland. Finally, in 2004, Joseph, having survived threats of great physical violence at the hands of roving gangs in Haiti, decided to join the rest of the family in the U.S. At the age of 81, he makes his way to Miami, where he is detained by Homeland Security, brutally imprisoned and fatally wounded. Edwidge's father is then told that he has little time to live on the same day that Edwidge finds out she is pregnant with her first child. The baby who will bear his name keeps him alive until shortly after his birth. Then the writer bravely struggles on, mourning the deaths of the two men most important to her while basking in the glow of motherhood. Is this an amazing story or what? As a piece of fiction, surely Danticat would have brought her usually strong prose to make it come alive. But here in BROTHER, I'M DYING, the fact that this is the actual story of her life with these men is both fantastical and heartbreaking. The restraint that she exercises in not pointing fingers at our strident and fascistic post-9/11 government and with which she discusses situations that would bring most spiritual people to their knees in anger is beyond admirable --- it is downright remarkable. The soul of this woman is spread across these pages with a determination and urgency th

So far, this is my favorite book by Danticat (I've read them all). It drew me in completely. And although I knew from the title that at least one life would be lost by the close of the book, I was unable to stop reading.I kept thinking that her father and uncle, not to mention the rest of her family must be very proud of her for writing such a beautiful eulogy. I also believe that the Haitian people who live with this suffering are also glad. Good work, Edwidge.

This book is one of Ms. Danticat's finest works. If you loved her work so far, you won't be disappointed with this book. As in her other books, her writing literally sings, sometimes mournful tunes, sometimes pretty ditties. Whatever the tone of the "music," it's wonderful. As is this book.

Edwidge tells the story of a modern Haitian family, her family, with great love and courage. In addition to Edwidge's family's personal events, the year 2004 was a year of great sadness and emotion for Haiti and Haitians. It was a year that was to be the celebration of the country's 200th. birthday. Haitians were full of anger at the political situation and sadness at their inability to celebrate one of the major reasons for Haitian pride, our great history. There were also terrible natural disasters, floods that killed more people than 9/11 did. It was a sad year and Edwidge was having her first baby. While it is often said that Haitians in the US are not political refugees but economic refugees, this book shows us that family life is tied to political life. And in the face of the political and economic situation, some make the choice to emigrate at any cost as Edwidge's biological father did, and some make the choice of serving their community in Haiti as Edwidge's surrogate father and uncle did. Each man expresses love for the family in his own way either as a provider of financial support or a provider of every day love. Uncle Joseph stayed in Haiti as long as he could. When the day came that his own home was destroyed and his life was directly threatened, he decided to go to the US with no return date. That's how he encountered his death: a family man alone in a foreign hospital, shackled, voiceless, and abandoned, because he made the mistake of asking for political asylum. For most Americans this story will be an introduction to a type of life common to many Haitians, a life of dedication to family and of cultural transitions. Edwidge's family is a hybrid of true Haitians and true Americans. As Americans they believed in respect for national institutions. But Joseph Dantica's death showed the ugly face of the Immigration Service as an institution; an institution whose clients are all voiceless, like uncle Joseph. In his life as a throat cancer survivor and in his death Edwidge becomes his voice. A beautiful voice.

Edwidge Danticat once again writes gold with this unforgettable tale of America. Edwidge Danticat is an acclaimed author with national bestseller and Oprah pick novels to her credit. This, however, is a biographical account of her own life as a Haitian immigrant dealing with, simulaneously, the slow death of her father, who came here an immigrant but died a US citizen, at the same time as her uncle, a minister who raised her for many years in Haiti, is on a path toward his own death at 81--shackled to a bed as an immigration detainee in post 9/11 America, after requesting asylum due to attempts on his own life in retaliation for UN-involved violence, his medication taken and discarded, despite the fact that he had been coming to the country for thirty years and arrived with proper documentation and a valid visa--a death hastened by his nexcusable treatment at the hands of the US government. You will be outraged by this story, which is a testiment to both the best and worst of America, while you will learn to respect and admire the men and women who's tale it is. This is a story of love, of family, of America, and of transition. It is a lesson in justice, family, loyalty, trust, honor, pride, and betrayal. This book manages to tell an intensely human story within the context of the serious political and moral complications of American life today. It should be required reading by every American. Simply put, it will feed your soul an entire feast with a simple bowl of rice.