American Son

Told with a hard-edged purity that brings to mind Cormac McCarthy and Denis Johnson, American Son is the story of two Filipino brothers adrift in contemporary California. The older brother, Tomas, fashions himself into a Mexican gangster and breeds pricey attack dogs, which he trains in German and sells to Hollywood celebrities. The narrator is younger brother Gabe, who tries to avoid the tar pit of Tomas's waywardness, yet moves ever closer to embracing it. Their mother, who moved to America to escape the caste system of Manila and is now divorced from their American father, struggles to keep her sons in line while working two dead-end jobs. When Gabe runs away, he brings shame and unforeseen consequences to the family. Full of the ache of being caught in a violent and alienating world, American Son is a debut novel that captures the underbelly of the modern immigrant experience.

A Los Angeles Times Best Book, New York Times Notable Book, and a Kiriyama Pacific Rim Prize Finalist

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 05/17/2001
ISBN: 9780393321548
Pages: 256
Weight: 0.43lbs
Size: 8.23h x 5.51w x 0.59d
Award: Kiriyama Prize - Nominee

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 03/15/2001 pg. 358
Publishers Weekly 05/14/2001 pg. 52
Booklist 05/01/2001 pg. 1669
New York Times 08/12/2001 pg. 20
New York Times 12/02/2001 pg. 63