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Real Americans

By: Rachel Khong
Narrated by: Louisa Zhu, Eric Yang, Eunice Wong
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Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER READ WITH JENNA’S MAY BOOK CLUB PICK • From the award-winning author of Goodbye, Vitamin: How far would you go to shape your own destiny? An exhilarating novel of American identity that spans three generations in one family and asks: What makes us who we are? And how inevitable are our futures?

"Mesmerizing"—Brit Bennett • "A page turner.”—Ha Jin • “Gorgeous, heartfelt, soaring, philosophical and deft"—Andrew Sean Greer • "Traverses time with verve and feeling."—Raven Leilani

Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster, and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn't be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love.

In 2021, fifteen-year-old Nick Chen has never felt like he belonged on the isolated Washington island where he lives with his single mother, Lily. He can't shake the sense she's hiding something. When Nick sets out to find his biological father, the journey threatens to raise more questions than it provides answers.

In immersive, moving prose, Rachel Khong weaves a profound tale of class and striving, race and visibility, and family and inheritance—a story of trust, forgiveness, and finally coming home.

Exuberant and explosive, Real Americans is a social novel par excellence that asks: Are we destined, or made? And if we are made, who gets to do the making? Can our genetic past be overcome?

©2024 Rachel Khong (P)2024 Random House Audio
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Critic reviews

"Remarkable... Folded into [Real Americans] are doomed love stories, fancy parties, a subplot about epigenetics, Chinese people who look white and yummy treats... The book also poses a dizzying array of questions: What does it mean to be American, and who gets to say who is one?”—Robert Ito, The New York Times

“A…masterful, shape-shifting novel about multiracial identity….What makes Americans 'real'? Is it our competitive drive? Our craving for wealth and status? Our insatiable quest for scientific advancement? Or is it—inevitably—the color of our skin and eyes?... [Rachel] Khong manages these twisting threads with masterful deftness.... [An] irresistible puzzle of a novel."—Aimee Liu, Los Angeles Times

"[Rachel] Khong layers the lives of her characters to challenge how well we can really know one another... [Khong]…captures the feeling of floating in the in-between, not firmly tethered to one pole of identity or another but instead looking for a way to feel secure in your own space... And that title—Real Americans—evokes more questions than any single book could answer. What is American, and what is real?"—Lucy Feldman, TIME

What listeners say about Real Americans

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A long descriptive menu with no meat on the plate

Really wanted to like. Enjoy how she writes about food, but over all there is just not much to this story. The main character makes a few interesting observations, mostly when she is in uncomfortable situations, but otherwise it’s a lot of descriptions about things that do nothing to progress the story. Reader tries to add drama and just makes the conversations seem unlikely or unbelievable.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A pleasant thought provoking surprise

I did not have any expectations of this book. It was both tender and thoughtful. You cannot help but be drawn in. Worth a listen…

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

How little we have understand each other

I found the thread of this story to weave through what happened to this Asian family to be surprising. I was touched by each character study. It was insightful and full of courage. I think it is meaningful to see every perspective of this family!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

The ending was unsatisfying.

I wasn’t looking for a fairy tale ending, but some resolution would have been nice. It’s as if the author didn’t know where to go with the various storylines.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Family dramas

This book was such a good story, but I think it would have even been better with some editing to make it a bit shorter. Overall, still gave 5 stars.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent read

Great read ! Couldn’t put it down I loved that they were 3 parts and linked at the end. Would highly recommend this book!!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Missed the mark somehow

I found the story sad.
The characters were unfulfilled.
The title was a bit misleading.
The narrator’s voice was monotone.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Best wedgie ever?

What I look for in a book, regardless of genre, is a good story about people. Real Americans is exactly that. Rachel Khong deserves all the praise in the world. I’d love to throw her a lemon darty ice cream party.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Lots of holes

The book gave me lots of feels but the number of holes left in the story were too hard for me to ignore.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

beautiful storytelling

I loved this unique way of documenting the passage of time. This book was beautifully written and the characters had so many relatable life circumstances to my own family's, I found reading this through an outsider's perspective extremely insightful.

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