Georges Woke Up Laughing: Long-Distance Nationalism and the Search for Home

Georges Woke Up Laughing: Long-Distance Nationalism and the Search for Home by Georges Eugene Fouron and Nina Glick Schiller is an interesting exploration of Haitian-American identities and long-distance nationalism. The co-authored text uses the Fouron family as a springboard for discussion of concepts pertaining to immigration, nationalism, race, culture, family and kinship ties in a transnational context. In addition to using Fouron's nuclear and extended family, Schiller's own experience as a Jewish American descendant offers an interesting comparative perspective based on Jewish assimilation in the US, cultural ties to their European origins, or Zionist sentiments. In one sense, Jewish Americans are similar to Black immigrants, such as Haitians, based on their 'long-distance nationalism' as well as a shared degree of exclusion from mainstream white America. Fouron and Schiller also have light-hearted, tender moments of their own family histories, particularly Fouron and his extended family network in Les Cayes and the Haitian capital. Anyone searching for an intimate look at Haitian-American identities through the lens of long-distance nationalism that binds Haitians of the Diaspora with those in the island will not be disappointed.