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Yobo: Korean-American Writing in Hawai'i Edited by Nora Okja Keller, Brenda Kwon, Sun Nam-kung, Gary Pak, and Cathy Song Bamboo Ridge Press, 2003; 381 pages.
One hundred years ago, the first wave of Korean immigrants left their homeland to search for a better life and opportunities in America. However, for many immigrants who left Korea over the years, they found themselves sometimes caught between both worlds. "The arguments between my parents and myself began in earnest, dictionary in hand about being Korean in America. I couldn't see why we couldn't just be American," writes Sun Namkung, "Being a hyphenated American was burdensome. I wanted to have macaroni and cheese dinners, not kimchi and rice meals."
Sun's essay "The Mythology of Me," is just one of the illuminating and moving portraits of the Korean-American experience found in Yobo: Korean-American Writing in Hawai'i. Edited by Nora Okja Keller, Brenda Kwon, Sun Nam-kung,...