Reviews for Adolescence in America

The average rating for Adolescence in America based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-01-19 00:00:00 Marc Staley Jamaica Kincaid is an award winning author and essayist. Her short yet provocative essay A Small Place describing life in her native Antigua has earned inclusion in the book 500 Great Books by Women by Erica Bauermeister. In this essay, Kincaid details foreign presence in Antigua and its influence on her native population. Kincaid starts her essay describing how one would feel when arriving at Antigua's only airport. A tourist would see a sparkling sea and lush flora but would not notice the life of the island. As in many Caribbean countries, tourists come to use beach resorts away from the everyday life on the island. They see palm trees and sip rum poolside but are not subject to the abject poverty plaguing most people who make Antigua home. As a result, there is a schism between the largely white European and American tourists and the predominately black Antiguan populace. Kincaid likely wrote this to make her readers feel uncomfortable or at least guilty if they have ever taken an island vacation, and only remained on a resort, not pouring money into the island economy. The main reason Kincaid cites for this schism is that Antigua is largely a country of descendants of slaves, yet has been under British rule and government since the time of the Empire. The British attempted to impart their schools and religion and culture to a population that was nothing like themselves. Kincaid attended a British run school. It was a choice of that or having no future other than marriage and raising children. She points out that most of Antigua is still run this way, and even cites comparisons to the Papa Doc Duvalier regime in Haiti. In other words, Antigua remains a backward society, one that Kincaid would rather not live in. I found A Small Place to be a provoking and powerful essay. Having never read Kincaid's work before, I am excited to read her novels if they are anywhere near as poignant as this essay. I am also interested to see if one of her novels perhaps is more worthy of inclusion in an anthology of great books by women authors. Jamaica Kincaid is merits reading, especially as I quest to read a diverse selection of authors from around the globe. 4 stars.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-05-28 00:00:00 Richard H Jr Wilcox The obscenity of mass tourism in struggling paradises could not be shown more eloquently than in this short essay on Antigua, told by a native and addressing YOU - the tourist! What do we actually know of the societies we invade to get our share of sunshine and blue, glittery water? Not that much. What do we actually DO to those societies when we come there for the settings and ignore the inhabitants as mere decoration at best, or as a nuisance at worst if we have a slight problem with (hidden or unhidden) racism? A fierce plaidoyer for more awareness and responsibility, A Small Place targets blind and careless privilege in all its forms: in entrepreneurship, in politics, in luxury travelling... Should be required holiday reading for more sustainable and humane interaction on our struggling planet!