Book Club:Behold the Dreamers

Join us for dinner at Ruth Buka/Oakland and discussion of Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue , a debut novel that details the experiences of two New York City families during the 2008 financial crisis: an immigrant family from Cameroon, the Jonga family, and their wealthy employers, the Edwards family.  Please RSVP to Jayma at jaymaghana@earthlink.net by Feb 12th so I can know who and how many people to expect.

Discussion questions:

• Traditionally we think of immigrants as dreaming of a better life in America, although often it’s their children who truly benefit. Who is dreaming in this story? What are they dreaming about? How is the American Dream different for Jende & Neni than for Clark & Cindy? How does the American Dream fail each of them?
• The story brings together 2 families at the extremes of wealth inequality, social class & education. What qualities of the immigrants make it possible for them to become trusted confidantes to the 1%?