''Beautiful Country: A Memoir of an Undocumented Childhood'' is a 2021 memoir by

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

lawyer

Qian Julie Wang Qian Julie Wang (Chinese: 王乾) is a Chinese-American writer and civil rights lawyer. Early life Qian Wang was born in Shijiazhuang, China to academic parents. Wang's mother was a professor of mathematics, while Wang's father was a profe ...

. It was published on September 7, 2021 by Doubleday, an imprint of

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertels ...

. In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', reviewer Elisabeth Egan described the book as a "powerful story" that "reminds us how lucky we are to have the privileges unlocked by this little blue booklet nited States passport— and what others risk and endure every day in hopes of getting one too." The book's title derives from the literal translation of the Chinese word for the United States (), which means "beautiful country".

Synopsis

In ''Beautiful Country'', Wang writes about the hardships that she and her parents faced upon their arrival to the United States in 1994, as undocumented immigrants from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. She discusses the numerous challenges she faced of growing up in poverty, and how she emerged from all of it with her dreams intact.

Publication and promotion

Wang wrote the book on her phone during her commute to her law offices, finishing a first draft in 2019. ''Beautiful Country'' was published in

hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occa ...

and

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

format on September 7, 2021, by Doubleday, an imprint of

. An audiobook, narrated by Wang, was released the same day. Wang promoted the book with a series of media appearances, including '' The Today Show'' interview by Jenna Bush Hager, who also selected the book as the 'impactful' memoir for September 2021. Wang also promoted the book on NPR and at the

Chicago Humanities Festival The Chicago Humanities Festival is a non-profit organization which hosts an annual series of lectures, concerts, and films in Chicago. There are two seasons each year, including a spring festival from April through May, and a longer fall festival ...

. The book debuted at number three on ''The New York Times'' nonfiction best-seller list.

Reception

Rana Foroohar Rana Aylin Foroohar (née Dogar; born March 4, 1970) is an American author, business columnist and an associate editor at the ''Financial Times''. She is also CNN's global economic analyst. Life and career Foroohar was born Rana Aylin Dogar in ...

of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' wrote that ''Beautiful Country'' "shows us how struggle can grind people down, making them as paranoid and cruel to each other as the system is to them." Kaitlin Jefferys of ''Voice'' magazine wrote that the memoir leaves readers with a positive message: "cling on to your dreams no matter your circumstances." In December 2021, former

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

included ''Beautiful Country'' in his top 13 book recommendations of 2021.

References

External links

Author's website
* * {{cite web , title=Beautiful Country: An Evening with Qian Julie Wang , website=YouTube , url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut-ULgb0lWo , date=May 18, 2022 , publisher=MuseumpfCityNY , postscript=; May 9th, 2022, lecture by Qian Julie Wang 2021 non-fiction books American memoirs Literature by Chinese-American women Doubleday (publisher) books Debut books