Journalist Lauren Hilgers shares the story of Zhuang Liehong, a Chinese activist who travels to the United States with his wife on a tourist visa in order to seek political asylum. Liehong chooses New York City because of it’s promise and possibilities but quickly encounters the realities of living in one of the most expensive cities in the United States. Liehong and his wife struggle to find affordable housing, learn the language and culture, and apply for permanent status in order to send for their young son still living in China with relatives – all while politically advocating for his remote, hometown village in Southern China. I was deeply invested in Liehong’s story and so desperately wanted the “American Dream” to come true for them. This book is a valuable account of the immigrant experience and what it’s truly like to flee the only country you’ve ever known to start a new life. ( )

This is a complicated story. On the one hand, it is a story of tenacious Chinese immigrants, fighting the systems, Chinese and American, to earn justice, find their places, and realize their dreams. One can't help but respect their drive. Yet the story can't be buttonholed as a simple political pro-immigration account. For Hilgers also makes clear that the vast majority of Chinese asylum applications are fraudulent, and that most Chinese political "dissidents" in the US only became dissidents after arriving here, sometimes for profit (selling their testimony to other would-be asylum seekers). Even as they protest Chinese government policies, the Chinese immigrants profiled support Donald Trump, admiring his authoritarianism and anti-immigrant stance. So there is no simple political conclusion. Maybe, Immigration is good, but not the US immigration system? In any case, the human stories are compelling and worth reading. Hilgers tells them well. ( )

This non-fiction book follows a Chinese dissent as he seeks asylum in the US for himself and his family. It highlights the struggles and disillusionment and also exposes a system of bureaucratic mazes and delays and how this community has learned to game the system. The subject of this book is not a major player in resistance in China, yet the government continues to pursue his friends and family and fellow villagers in his absence. ( )

Patriot Number One is Zhuang Liehong, a Chinese activist who has sought asylum and made the United States his home. Any immigrant story has two parts - the life they create in their adopted home and the life they leave behind. Going back and forth in time and place, the book by Lauren Hilgers captures both. On both sides of the story, the book depicts a struggle. One is the activism and fight against corruption. The other is the attempt to navigate the US immigration and justice system in a legal application for asylum.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2018/07/patriot-number-one-american-dreams-in.h...

Reviewed for Penguin First to Read program. ( )

I don't know about you, but I don't think that I could master reading Chinese characters or even do a credible communication in even one of the many dialects. The reverse of this is true for each of the many Chinese immigrants in New York and elsewhere in the English speaking world.
This book gives the rest of us a view into Wukan village life and indignities, the government reaction to low level rebellion, the need and process of political asylum seeking, the incredible monetary and emotional costs, and the harsh realities for one courageous man and his wife, their families, friends and neighbors in the years from 2012 to 2017. It is written by an English speaking magazine reporter fluent in Chinese and able to transliterate names, and this chronicling is also documented and footnoted.
Follow along with the poorlt educated young man who became Patriot Number One in an effort to dissolve corruption in local and provincial government and work for social justice. He married an educated but introverted young woman, spent time in jail, had a son, and became too problematic for the government. Then began the process of leaving the small son with the grandparents, consolidating his funds, borrowing money from family and friends, planning and executing the move from China (without alerting the government), and then coming as just another immigrant to the Chinese community in Flushing, Queens, New York.
Follow along with the tribulations of their living in one small room (which cost as much as a one room apartment in the Midwest), finding trustworthy contacts among the countless strangers, finding employment when unable to understand the language, obtaining political asylum status, working 60 to 70 hours per week, paying taxes and Social Security, and still sending money back to both her parents and his. There are good people and good luck in their lives as well, making this a fascinating but exhausting reading experience. It's also a good insight and reminder to those of us who have parents and grandparents who had similar experiences and also overcame it all.
I requested and received a prepublication copy from Net Galley.
Don't miss this gem. ( )