My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education

Jennine Capó Crucet

Sep 2019 · Sold by Picador

About this ebook

From the author of Make Your Home Among Strangers, essays on being an “accidental” American—an incisive look at the edges of identity for a woman of color in a society centered on whiteness

In this sharp and candid collection of essays, critically acclaimed writer and first-generation American Jennine Capó Crucet explores the condition of finding herself a stranger in the country where she was born. Raised in Miami and the daughter of Cuban refugees, Crucet examines the political and personal contours of American identity and the physical places where those contours find themselves smashed: be it a rodeo town in Nebraska, a university campus in upstate New York, or Disney World in Florida. Crucet illuminates how she came to see her exclusion from aspects of the theoretical American Dream, despite her family’s attempts to fit in with white American culture—beginning with their ill-fated plan to name her after the winner of the Miss America pageant.

In prose that is both fearless and slyly humorous, My Time Among the Whites examines the sometimes hopeful, sometimes deeply flawed ways in which many Americans have learned to adapt, exist, and—in the face of all signals saying otherwise—perhaps even thrive in a country that never imagined them here.

Ratings and reviews

I previewed the free sample of this ebook. This is my take: A first generation cuban american's experience is hardly any different than my 2nd generation german american's experience in life and college. You have to find your own way and that only makes you stronger. I get the title because everything these days is either about sex or race, and that sells. It wouldn't be my choice, however. When I seen the title, I thought it was about someone raised by a white family and decided to go back to a racial polarized origin. This story appears to be about someone that started in the cuban community and has become part through her experiences of this great melting pot that we call Amerca. I would have used that in choosing a more positive title. It is very easy reading and an interesting story told first hand by the author. It is worth reading.

About the author

Jennine Capó Crucet is the author of two previous books and is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. Her novel, Make Your Home Among Strangers, was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice book, the winner of the 2016 International Latino Book Award, and was cited as a best book of the year by NBC Latino, the Guardian, and the Miami Herald; it has been adopted as an all-campus read at over twenty-five American universities. Her short stories have been honored with the Iowa Short Fiction Award, an O. Henry Prize, and other awards. Raised in Miami, Florida, she is an associate professor in the Department of English and the Institute for Ethnic Studies at the University of Nebraska.