Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Synopsis
"An enjoyable, lively destruction of pet American binaries. By reading old stories with new lenses, Gary Okihiro brings about a different understanding of the shaping forces of American history--its life as a Pacific as well as Atlantic world, as a perpetually unstable racial system, and as an erotically charged, unstable, racialized sexual system. Common Ground is well written, full of engaging and accessible stories, and thought provoking in the best sense of the word."--Sarah Deutsch, University of Arizona
"Common Ground is a book that students of American history need to read. It is an engaging intellectual enterprise in the forefront of the important new work in American Studies."--Clyde A. Milner II, Utah State University
"An inventive counter-narrative of U.S. history for readers interested in ethnic studies. Common Ground allows for a much richer appreciation of the complexities of American culture, the hybrid character of many historical themes, and the interconnections among categories usually thought discrete and separate."--Sean Wilentz, Princeton University
Choice
[Common Ground] should take its place . . . as a standard reference. Deftly referencing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago's 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, Madame Butterfly (Puccini's opera and the modern play,) his own childhood experiences . . . and other richly varied illustrations, Okihiro offers important insights. . . . A must read.