Tracing his story of becoming a US citizen, Jos Ordu a's memoir explores the complex issues of immigration and assimilation. Jos Ordu a chronicles the process of becoming a North American citizen in a post-9/11 United States. Intractable realities--rooted in the continuity of US imperialism to globalism--form the landscape of Ordu a's daily experience, where the geopolitical meets the quotidian. In one anecdote, he recalls how the only apartment his parents could rent was one that didn't require signing a lease or running a credit check, where the floors were so crooked he once dropped an orange and watched it roll in six directions before settling in a corner. Ordu a describes the absurd feeling of being handed a piece of paper--his naturalization certificate--that guarantees something he has always known: he has every right to be here. A trenchant exploration of race, class, and identity,
The Weight of Shadows is a searing meditation on the nature of political, linguistic, and cultural borders, and the meaning of "America."
