PRAISE:
“Articulate and timely, Orduña’s book probes the underside of the American dream while offering a fierce vision of the way race and class continue to shape government policy in a country that still bills itself as the land of opportunity for all. Sharp-eyed and unsparing.” —Kirkus Reviews
“The highly descriptive narrative brings his lived experience as close to readers as words printed on a page can. This memoir is recommended for readers who understand migration—especially to the U.S.—or are hoping to know more about it and are looking for narratives that exemplify the experience.” —Booklist
“Orduña’s book violates—in a most exciting way—a number of literary borders: the political essay is enclosed within a novel; tough political observation is enlivened suddenly by a rush of metaphor or lush detail from the poet’s eye; finally, humor and pathos meet on the page ‘without papers.’ Here is an exuberant, outlaw literary style…that exactly matches the many ironies of being—and note quite ever being—a North American.” —Richard Rodriguez, author of Brown: The Last Discovery of America
"José Orduña’s wonderfully wry, insightful, and beautiful debut is as deft as they come in nonfiction. The Weight of Shadows teeters on that dangerous nexus of race, class, and identity in American culture, charging through its subject matter with exhilarating confidence in order to bring us a mix of reportage, history, and autobiography that ultimately coalesces into a meditation on the physical, psychic, and aesthetic boundaries that taunt, challenge, and sometimes even inspire us all.” —John D’Agata, author of Halls of Fame: Essays
“A beautifully written, insightful memoir that examines questions of citizenship and immigration with compassion, integrity, and fearlessness. The Weight of Shadows is an outstanding debut that instantly places Orduña among the ranks of literature’s best new talent.” —Jerald Walker, author of Street Shadows: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Redemption
“In this timely and remarkably crafted work, José Orduña skillfully weaves personal memoir with deeply researched facts to reveal the disquieting truths no citizen of conscience can afford to ignore. A powerful meditation on the fraught road to naturalization, The Weight of Shadows awakens us to the privileges and burdens of Americanness and the troubling and often-dehumanizing abuses suffered by those in the ‘shadows.’” —Shulem Deen, author of All Who Go Do Not Return
“José Orduña has written a provocative and insightful work that is destined to introduce a new form to the world of creative nonfiction. We have faith in his facts and Orduña essays us into a position of activism, documentation, and nuanced storytelling. The Weight of Shadows opens new pathways toward understanding the repercussions of our immigration policies, a counter-narrative to our media-skewed perceptions of a human rights issue that has no border. Orduña’s hybrid approach to narrative employs the urgency of fiction, an investigative, reportorial eye, and a sublime, bilingual lyricism. This memoir will no doubt be required reading for years to come.” —Willie Perdomo, author of The Essential Hits of Shorty Bon Bon