{"product_id":"borderline-citizen-9781496220417","title":"Borderline Citizen","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eBorderline Citizen\u003c\/i\u003eRobin Hemley wrestles with what it means to be a citizen of the world, taking readers on a singular journey through the hinterlands of national identity. As a polygamist of place, Hemley celebrates Guy Fawkes Day in the contested Falkland Islands; Canada Day and the Fourth of July in the tiny U.S. exclave of Point Roberts, Washington; Russian Federation Day in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad; Handover Day among protesters in Hong Kong; and India Day along the most complicated border in the world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Forgoing the exotic descriptions of faraway lands common in traditional travel writing, \u003ci\u003eBorderline Citizen\u003c\/i\u003e upends the genre with darkly humorous and deeply compassionate glimpses into the lives of exiles, nationalists, refugees, and others. Hemley’s superbly rendered narratives detail these individuals, including a Chinese billionaire who could live anywhere but has chosen to situate his ornate mansion in the middle of his impoverished an\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Engaging bits about intriguing lands, all in service of trying to 'understand the complexities of the world.'\"—\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A thought-provoking work that troubles the complexities of nationhood.\"—Wendy Hinman, \u003ci\u003eForeword Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eBorderline Citizen \u003c\/i\u003emakes not only for interesting historical reading, but an absorbing vantage on our contemporary crises of belonging.\"—Justin Tyler Clark, \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Robin Hemley explodes the very idea of nationhood and in so doing redefines it, offering a more thoughtful and humane notion of how to be a citizen of our world today. These ‘dispatches’ are travel writing at its best, where the writer delves into the intimacies of foreign places, seeing beyond their exotic surfaces, in search of a global humanity. Brilliantly comic, darkly but poignantly introspective, \u003ci\u003eBorderline Citizen\u003c\/i\u003e should be required reading for the twenty-first century and beyond.”—Xu Xi, author of \u003ci\u003eThis Fish is Fowl: Essays of Being\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Robin Hemley begins \u003ci\u003eBorderline Citizen\u003c\/i\u003e with the observation that ‘as travelers, we see surfaces first. It’s easy to exoticize, to misinterpret, nearly impossible to see something except through our own lenses.’ He then goes on to show how a thoughtful, perceptive, and open-hearted traveler can overcome all those limitations. In vividly rendered essays, Hemley takes us to some of history’s oddest bits of territory, showing how human lives are shaped (and often distorted) by arbitrary political boundaries. With superb storytelling, he explores the meanings of nationalism, sovereignty, citizenship, and the loyalties of the human heart.”—Corey Flintoff, former NPR foreign correspondent\u003cbr\u003e“In these days of ultranationalism comes a surprising antidote in Robin Hemley’s cabinet of curiosities, \u003ci\u003eBorderline Citizen\u003c\/i\u003e, his account of his journeys to the ‘bits and bobs’ of national territories stranded by accidents of geography, history, and stubbornness. Hemley is a delightful guide, but there are serious questions for him to explore here as well—and lessons for all the mainlands and mother countries about the meaning and price of national identity. Quite possibly the most original travel book published in years.”—Jeff Sharlet, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Family\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThis Brilliant Darkness\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Robin Hemley has traveled to more countries than just about anyone I know, and along the way he’s collected vital observations on the tragic absurdity of nationalism and the implicit violence of a world crisscrossed with borders\u003ci\u003e. \u003c\/i\u003eI think of him in the company of Pankaj Mishra, Pico Iyer, Bruce Chatwin, and John Berger—writers whose transnational souls challenge the idea of a single place of origin.”—Jess Row, author of \u003ci\u003eWhite Flights\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eYour Face in Mine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This is a book of daring travel and quiet observation. \u003ci\u003eBorderline Citizen\u003c\/i\u003e challenges common constructs of national borders, patriotism, and citizenship to shed an urgent light on the exile’s predicament. With a sharp wit guided by empathy, Hemley has written a necessary and entirely unique book about what it really means to belong in a divided world.”—Jennifer Percy, journalist and author of \u003ci\u003eDemon Camp\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Robin Hemley is a born traveler, and in \u003ci\u003eBorderline Citizen\u003c\/i\u003e he visits exclaves, enclaves, and places in between to explore what loyalty to and love of a country mean. In Havana and Hong Kong, Kaliningrad and the Falkland Islands, he poses questions about identity, a complicated subject for many in the twenty-first century, and what he learns along the way is by turns illuminating and amazing. Thus a journey to an artificial rain forest in Nebraska inspires a meditation on authenticity, which reveals that in these uncertain times there is no better guide to the challenges we face than Robin Hemley.”—Christopher Merrill, author of \u003ci\u003eSelf-Portrait with Dogwood\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Few writers have traveled as voraciously as Robin Hemley, and none with his special blend of curiosity, heart, and wit. His latest collection interrogates the idea of nationhood by spotlighting a wide spectrum of citizens—from an Afghan refugee to a Chinese billionaire—to prove that personhood is all that matters in the end. At a time when nationalism is resurging around the globe, Hemley bolsters the spirit with this vibrant read.”—Stephanie Elizondo Griest, author of \u003ci\u003eAll the Agents and Saints: Dispatches from the U.S. Borderlands\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eList of Illustrations\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Prologue: The Traveler in the Twenty-First Century\u003cbr\u003e Walled Citizens\u003cbr\u003e No One Will See Me Again Forever\u003cbr\u003e The Great Land Swap\u003cbr\u003e Don’t Be Too Difficult\u003cbr\u003e Close Calls with a Potentially Violent Felon in Cuba\u003cbr\u003e They Have Forgotten Many Things\u003cbr\u003e Mr. Chen’s Mountain\u003cbr\u003e To the Rainforest Room\u003cbr\u003e Present\u003cbr\u003e Celebrating Russian Federation Day with Immanuel Kant\u003cbr\u003e Field Notes for the Graveyard Enthusiast\u003cbr\u003e Survivor Stories\u003cbr\u003e Independence Days","brand":"University of Nebraska Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49409231552855,"sku":"9781496220417","price":16.14,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781496220417.jpg?v=1730506060","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/borderline-citizen-9781496220417","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}