Sublime

while most Americans might not be able to tell the difference between me, a forty-one-year-old first-generation Korean immigrant raised in an educated middle-class household, and the first-generation undocumented immigrant from Fujian Province who delivers their meals, that doesn’t mean some bond has been forged out of this misunderstanding.

Belonging to a pattern was safe, at least; to be singular was a risk.

A terrible imminence overtakes entirely the present moment.

CONTENTS Part 1 Festival Night Part 2 The Voyage Out Part 3 The Crucible Part 4 Homesick Part 5 Falling into History Part 6 Guns Under the Table Part 7 Senzeni Na Part 8 Shikata Ga Nai

diaspora

noblesse oblige,

anachronistic—I

Books became my closest confidants, finely ground lenses providing new views of the world.