Community Book Discussion: Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen

DATE: Thursday, November 1
TIME:  7:00PM – 8:30PM
LOCATION: Open Book Bookstore

CANCELLED

Join our discussion of Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen, a fascinating and highly relevant new memoir, in which Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, tells his story about being born in the Philippines, and having his mother send him, at age 12, to live with her parents in the United States. Two decades

later, he is still here illegally.

Author Jose Antonio Vargas describes his new book:

“This is not a book about the politics of immigration. This book––at its core––is not about immigration at all. This book is about homelessness, not in a traditional sense, but in the unsettled, unmoored psychological state that undocumented immigrants like myself find ourselves in. This book is about lying and being forced to lie to get by; about passing as an American and as a contributing citizen; about families, keeping them together, and having to make new ones when you can’t. This book is about constantly hiding from the government and, in the process, hiding from ourselves. This book is about what it means to not have a home.

After 25 years of living illegally in a country that does not consider me one of its own, this book is the closest thing I have to freedom.”

HERE’S HOW THE EVENT WORKS:

• Come by and purchase your copy of the book after it is published on September 18th.
• Read the book!
• Join us on the evening of November 1st for a book discussion facilitated by book group leader Lynn Rosen.

NOTE: Purchase the book from Open Book Bookstore and get a free ticket to the event. Otherwise, there is a $5 charge for event attendance.

All are welcome!

Register HERE for event only.

Email lynn@openbookphilly.com to reserve your copy of the book.