In this Book
- Island in the City: A Memoir
- Book
- 2018
- Published by: University of Nebraska Press
- Series: American Lives
summary
What forges the unique human personality? In Island in the City Micah McCrary, taking his genetic inheritance as immutable, considers the role geography has played in shaping who he is. Place often leaves indelible marks: the badges of self-discovery; the scars from adversity and hardship; the gilded stamps from personal triumphs; the tattoos of memory; and the new appendages—friendships, experiences, and baggage—we carry with us. Each place, with its own personality, has the power to form or revise our personhood in surprising and fascinating ways.
McCrary considers three places he has called home (Normal, Illinois; Chicago; and Prague) and reflects on how these surroundings have shaped him. His sharp-eyed, charming memoir-in-essays contemplates how aspects of his identity, such as being black, male, middle-class, queer, and American, have developed and been influenced by where he hangs his hat.
McCrary considers three places he has called home (Normal, Illinois; Chicago; and Prague) and reflects on how these surroundings have shaped him. His sharp-eyed, charming memoir-in-essays contemplates how aspects of his identity, such as being black, male, middle-class, queer, and American, have developed and been influenced by where he hangs his hat.
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. xi-xii
- Normal
- Postures of Privilege
- pp. 17-25
- To Rebel against Men
- pp. 26-31
- Ever the Moth
- pp. 32-42
- Chicago
- Metropolis
- pp. 45-52
- Green and Gray
- pp. 53-63
- Geraldyne's Room
- pp. 64-72
- Two Cities
- pp. 73-85
- Playground City
- pp. 86-96
- Prague
- Snow Globe Bohemia
- pp. 99-105
- Island in the City
- pp. 106-115
- A Good Fake Czech
- pp. 116-123
- An Idea of Prague
- pp. 132-143
- Works Cited
- pp. 151-155
Additional Information
ISBN
9781496210685
Related ISBN(s)
9781496207869
MARC Record
OCLC
1043948601
Pages
168
Launched on MUSE
2018-08-07
Language
English
Open Access
No