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Voice of Witness
Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives
Underground America tells the stories of men and women who have come to the United States seeking a better life for their families, only to be subjected to dehumanizing working conditions. Supporting myriad industries, these workers form an essential part of our economy — often by working the least desirable jobs without the most basic legal protections. Underground America allows this largely ignored part of our country to finally share its experiences.
384 pages, Paperback
First published June 28, 2008
28 people are currently reading
1047 people want to read
About the author
Peter Orner
40 books294 followersPeter Orner was born in Chicago and is the author of three novels: Esther Stories (Houghton Mifflin, 2001), The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo (Little, Brown, 2006), and his most recent, Love and Shame and Love (Little, Brown, 2011) which was recently called epic by Daniel Handler, "...epic like Gilgamesh, epic like a guitar solo." (Orner has since bought Gilgamesh and is enjoying it.) Love and Shame and Love is illustrated throughout by his brother Eric Orner, a comic artist and illustrator whose long time independent/alt weekly strip The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green was made into a feature film in 2008. Eric Orner's work is featured this year in Best American Cartoons edited by Alison Bechdel.
A film version of one of Orner's stories, The Raft, is currently in production and stars Ed Asner.
The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo, a Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and a San Francisco Chronicle Best-Seller, won the Bard Fiction Prize. The novel is being translated into French, Dutch, Italian, and German. The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo is set in Namibia where Orner lived and worked in the early 1990's.
Esther Stories was awarded the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Goldberg Prize for Jewish Fiction, and was a Finalist for the Pen Hemingway Award and the New York Public Library's Young Lions Award.
Orner is also the editor of two non-fiction books, Underground America (2008) and Hope Deferred: Narratives of Zimbabwean Lives (co-editor Annie Holmes, 2010), both published by McSweeney's/ Voice of Witness, an imprint devoted to using oral history to illuminate human rights crises around the world. Harper's Magazine wrote, "Hope Deferred might be the most important publication out of Zimbabwe in the past thirty years."
Orner has published fiction in the Atlantic Monthly, The Paris Review, McSweeney's, The Southern Review, and various other publications. Stories have been anthologized in Best American Stories and the Pushcart Prize Annual. Orner has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim and Lannan Foundations.
Orner has taught at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop (Visiting Professor, 2011), University of Montana (William Kittredge Visting Writer, 2009), the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College (2009) Washington University (Visiting Hurst Professor, 2008), Bard College (Bard Fiction Prize Fellowship, 2007), Miami University (Visting Professor, 2002), Charles University in Prague (Visting Law Faculty, 2000). Orner is a long time permanent faculty member at San Francisco State where he is an associate professor. He would like to divide his time between a lot of places, especially San Francisco and Chicago.
A film version of one of Orner's stories, The Raft, is currently in production and stars Ed Asner.
The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo, a Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and a San Francisco Chronicle Best-Seller, won the Bard Fiction Prize. The novel is being translated into French, Dutch, Italian, and German. The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo is set in Namibia where Orner lived and worked in the early 1990's.
Esther Stories was awarded the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Goldberg Prize for Jewish Fiction, and was a Finalist for the Pen Hemingway Award and the New York Public Library's Young Lions Award.
Orner is also the editor of two non-fiction books, Underground America (2008) and Hope Deferred: Narratives of Zimbabwean Lives (co-editor Annie Holmes, 2010), both published by McSweeney's/ Voice of Witness, an imprint devoted to using oral history to illuminate human rights crises around the world. Harper's Magazine wrote, "Hope Deferred might be the most important publication out of Zimbabwe in the past thirty years."
Orner has published fiction in the Atlantic Monthly, The Paris Review, McSweeney's, The Southern Review, and various other publications. Stories have been anthologized in Best American Stories and the Pushcart Prize Annual. Orner has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim and Lannan Foundations.
Orner has taught at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop (Visiting Professor, 2011), University of Montana (William Kittredge Visting Writer, 2009), the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College (2009) Washington University (Visiting Hurst Professor, 2008), Bard College (Bard Fiction Prize Fellowship, 2007), Miami University (Visting Professor, 2002), Charles University in Prague (Visting Law Faculty, 2000). Orner is a long time permanent faculty member at San Francisco State where he is an associate professor. He would like to divide his time between a lot of places, especially San Francisco and Chicago.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
February 5, 2009
When I was reading this book, I kept on thinking about how easy it is to take for granted that I am an American citizen while so many other people are desperately fighting to become one. I don't have to worry about immigration officials taking me away to a country I hardly know. I'm not saying that being an American citizen is superior to a citizen of another country, but sometimes we have to leave our homes to create a better life for ourselves. That's what many people from many Central and South American countries have done. They come to America for the opportunities, but too often immigrants are treated as less than human. If you don't have a social security number (other proper documentation), you essentially have no rights. While they did cross the border illegally, many immigrants did not come here in malice but simply to work hard for themselves and their families. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Immigrants do the work most American citizens never do. After Hurricane Katrina, there's a few stories in Underground America talking about how many Hispanic immigrants cleaned up that awful mess. However, too often they were taken advantage of. Promises were made that never came through, but sometimes when your desperate for money you want to believe almost anything. This book opened my eyes in many ways, and it makes me look at undocumented immigrants in a different way now. We shouldn't group them together in one category. They have their own stories to tell and we should listen. America is a country of immigrants, and I think we should embrace people who come here with good intentions, of wanting to build a better life for themselves and their families.
May 2, 2016
If only the entire population of the United States could read this book...
May 12, 2008
This is a subject that I'm very conflicted on. This book helped me to see things differently, if not necessarily clearer. Definitely worth reading.
May 25, 2010
When Vica was picked up by Immigration and placed in detention, she was already visibly sick from HIV that had progressed to AIDS. She had been arrested for drinking and driving, and a background check exposed her lack of documents. She pleaded with the guards to let her see a doctor so that she could get back on her medications, but they refused. It wasn't until she was crippled by a high fever and diarrhea that they finally allowed her to go to a hospital, but by then it was too late. Her mother, Olga, heard what was happening to her daughter, the child born of rape for which she was exiled from her family in Mexico, yet was powerless to do anything. If she went to the hospital, she feared deportation or worse. After many phone calls, an advocate arranged for visitation papers, so that Olga could be by her daughter's side for the last painful hours of her life. And as she held her daughter's withered body in her arms, Olga saw that her little girl was chained to the bed like a dog.
In the midst of the debate over immigration reform and border security in our country, both democratic and republican politicians have a fair share of airtime to argue their opinions on the issue. However, the voice of American immigrants, the people whose lives are most affected by this legislation, have had no voice in this issue, no chance to offer up their own stories. The media portrayal of immigrant families is a bizarre caricature, focused entirely on their status, with no trace of humanity in the statistics. As a result, the most vehement voices in the debate actively dehumanize this segment of American society as either noble savages or dangerous criminals. Vica’s story has no place in today’s debate, for she is neither a saint nor a sinner, she is simply a human being.
While Vica’s voice has been permanently silenced, in Underground America, Olga and fifteen other men and women are given an opportunity to have a voice, to tell their story without fear of retribution. Their stories do not fit well into stereotypes or any simplistic narrative you’ll hear on cable news. Rather, they contain the beautiful and compelling complexity that is inherent in every human life. This is a powerful book, not only for the emotional content of the stories, but for its great potential to re-humanize the debate on immigration reform in our country. To all those who hold strong opinions on immigration, this book is a must read.
May 18, 2010
If you keep up with my reviews you know I like real people telling their stories, and this whole book was a compilation of oral histories of various people from different backgrounds, ages, and interests living in the US without proper documentation.
Although I had expected the focus to be on the lack of resources at home and desire to come to the States for opportunity; this aspect was really just understood to be implicit and not focused on primarily. Much more prominent were the perils of living without documentation, and the perils that lie therein; which ultimately was more educational and personalized the stories.
It became very clear, very quickly that to always be living in fear of being deported, always working in the margins, takes a psychic toll; forces those who are clearly able-bodied and often professionally viable in struggling home nations to compromise here in America and suffer any number of structural hurdles to advancement. Although the immigration administration is not detailed, it becomes clear from almost everyone's stories how labyrinthine the citizenship/asylum process is; and further how many predatory charlatans lay about trying to take advantage of immigrants lack of knowledge and fear of approaching legitimate help from public organizations.
Everyone who has any opinion about immigration, would be well served to skip media reporting and just read the true experiences of immigrants directly from the sources; you will do just fine coming up with your own fine analysis!
Although I had expected the focus to be on the lack of resources at home and desire to come to the States for opportunity; this aspect was really just understood to be implicit and not focused on primarily. Much more prominent were the perils of living without documentation, and the perils that lie therein; which ultimately was more educational and personalized the stories.
It became very clear, very quickly that to always be living in fear of being deported, always working in the margins, takes a psychic toll; forces those who are clearly able-bodied and often professionally viable in struggling home nations to compromise here in America and suffer any number of structural hurdles to advancement. Although the immigration administration is not detailed, it becomes clear from almost everyone's stories how labyrinthine the citizenship/asylum process is; and further how many predatory charlatans lay about trying to take advantage of immigrants lack of knowledge and fear of approaching legitimate help from public organizations.
Everyone who has any opinion about immigration, would be well served to skip media reporting and just read the true experiences of immigrants directly from the sources; you will do just fine coming up with your own fine analysis!
October 4, 2016
Voice of Witness do an incredible job collecting and editing the interviews they carry out. I have read a few other books they've put out and I am deeply touched each time by the personal tales. The stories are not easy to read, especially as they show the worst of humanity in response to genuine crisis.
This book in particular puts me in mind of Óscar Martínez and his courageous work with Central American migrants, and Central American people living in near anarchy at home. The subtitle of The Beast is 'the migrants who don't count'. Martínez tells the stories of people living on the margins, people whose basic needs are not being met no matter how hard they try. He gives voice to the individuals whose stories may otherwise be left to dust.
This book tells the stories of people not only from Latin America but from China and South Africa, among others. The common thread is that they are living in the US without legal documentation. I have a sense that VOW interviews are left fairly open ended; there is much depth to the unique yet similar stories each person tells. It's not an easy book to read cover to cover but I feel that everyone in the United States must read the stories of at least three people in this collection. These are the people I/we see every day, working hard so I/we can live in relative luxury. These are the people we need to see and understand in all their complexity and shared humanity.
This book in particular puts me in mind of Óscar Martínez and his courageous work with Central American migrants, and Central American people living in near anarchy at home. The subtitle of The Beast is 'the migrants who don't count'. Martínez tells the stories of people living on the margins, people whose basic needs are not being met no matter how hard they try. He gives voice to the individuals whose stories may otherwise be left to dust.
This book tells the stories of people not only from Latin America but from China and South Africa, among others. The common thread is that they are living in the US without legal documentation. I have a sense that VOW interviews are left fairly open ended; there is much depth to the unique yet similar stories each person tells. It's not an easy book to read cover to cover but I feel that everyone in the United States must read the stories of at least three people in this collection. These are the people I/we see every day, working hard so I/we can live in relative luxury. These are the people we need to see and understand in all their complexity and shared humanity.
July 31, 2008
Incredible and infuriating. It is what it says it is. What exactly the hell are we doing? To humans? What the hell, exactly, is it that we are doing?
Don't even talk to me about this - read it, but don't bring up the subject. What are we doing?
Don't even talk to me about this - read it, but don't bring up the subject. What are we doing?
July 21, 2018
I really liked this book. You basically read about the stories of undocumented people, edited in a way so it's like they're telling you first hand their life story. I was really angry reading about how some people were exploited and abused. It also made me sad to remember that these people would have extreme difficulty getting the documents to stay in the USA. Especially Lorena and Estrella...
I highly recommend this book. It humanizes the people you read about and reminds us that they are human. We are all human. For some people in the book, they talk about *feeling* American (having lived the majority of their lives there), it was just a lack of some pieces of paper that acknowledge that they are American.
I highly recommend this book. It humanizes the people you read about and reminds us that they are human. We are all human. For some people in the book, they talk about *feeling* American (having lived the majority of their lives there), it was just a lack of some pieces of paper that acknowledge that they are American.
October 4, 2018
Truly powerfully moving stories that reinforce the notion that while undocumented immigrants provide an essential labour force in so many facets that are economic drivers in the USA, and while there are opportunities for many of the US borne children of these undocumented immigrants to thrive and be active citizens, there are still too many opportunities for undocumented immigrants to be taken advantage of. While there are stories of hope that make us proud of the opportunities that the US can afford for the fortunate few – this is juxtaposed by so many stories of how shameful we should all be of our society as well.
January 2, 2023
Picked this up at a yard sale. The information about legal options is definitely dated as is the day to day obstacles which are now more numerous, but the book provides a varied cross section of experiences that lead people to be living in the US illegally. While the book does a great job of helping readers to see the perspective of how living illegally often feels like the lesser of two evils, never does it condone the choice. The narratives are shared as 1st person stories(translated to English as needed) and leaves judgement up to the reader, judgement of the illegal immigrants, those who employ them, those who help them, and those who exploit them.
January 17, 2021
Een verzameling verhalen, opgetekend uit de mond van ongedocumenteerde mensen in Amerika. De meesten uit Mexico en verder Zuid-Amerika, maar ook uit China, Zuid-Afrika en andere Afrikaanse landen. Schrijnende verhalen. De mensen zitten vast in een Kafkaiaans systeem, dat de laatste jaren steeds maar gecompliceerder en oneerlijker wordt. Het is onvoorstelbaar wat veel van hebben meegemaakt en nog meemaken. De uitbuiting is verschrikkelijk. Beslist geen gezellig leesboek, maar wel noodzakelijk. Je mag hopen, dat zoveel mogelijk Amerikanen dit ook lezen.
July 11, 2019
A harrowing & powerful read, not least because of what's currently going on in the US with ICE. The frequency with which vulnerable people, doing work US-born folks are unprepared to do (much like in the UK), were exploited by other people was truly sickening.This collection of interviews & testimonies were moving, shocking &, at times, truly devastating...I couldn't help but wonder how different things might be if more people read this. Important & timely reading.
October 27, 2025
Oof. I thought I understood this issue pretty well, but I am still shocked and horrified by how convoluted and unjust our immigration laws and policies have become. So many people caught in no-win situations. I want more justice for the innocent undocumented immigrants whose only crime is wanting a better life for their families. There are plenty of people breaking the law to take advantage of them. That's who our federal agents should focus their efforts on.
April 6, 2020
Enlightening, eye-opening. Highlighted elements of the undocumented experience on this side of the border that I had yet to consider. Contrasted the experience of undocumented individuals versus citizens with respect to relationships to the state, revealing the mechanisms through which the former suffer harrowing abuses at hands of employers, government, other citizens.
November 22, 2016
Incredible stories which highlight the vulnerabilities experienced by and the contributions of undocumented immigrants. Told with dignity and grace from a wide variety of perspectives it rises above sound bytes and illustrates the complexity of immigration.
July 5, 2019
I read this book as there is so much to learn about life's experiences and immigration issues.
The words that come to mind: awareness, compassion and frustration in our human kind.
Thank you Voices of Witness for compiling such rich testimonials.
The words that come to mind: awareness, compassion and frustration in our human kind.
Thank you Voices of Witness for compiling such rich testimonials.
May 1, 2020
Very interesting, undocumented Americans are horribly exploited and very little is done about it.
August 30, 2025
While, this book focuses on the stories of individual immigrants compiled 15 years ago, it is still relevant. The stories included are often heartrending and illustrate the situations that the immigrants escaped from, the perils of passage, and the difficulty of living in the US an undocumented immigrant. The effort to expel undocumented immigrants is not new and was also characteristic of the Bush and Obama administrations. The individual stories are effectively told.
June 24, 2024
Mostly I wish this was required reading at schools where we teach nothing about the suffering of migrants, especially in states that rely on their economic contribution while demonizing them at the same time.
Heartbreaking read for the rest of us who already know that immigration is hard beyond words when you do it legally, and can't fathom how hard it is when you don't.
Heartbreaking read for the rest of us who already know that immigration is hard beyond words when you do it legally, and can't fathom how hard it is when you don't.
September 26, 2012
This past summer, Jack and I got in a semi-argument over an article about immigration that we found in our complimentary newspaper (which complimented our continental breakfast) at Holiday Inn in Erie, PA. (That in itself is a story, and a damn good one). Without going into the details of the argument, I can say that I came away from it wanting to educate myself more on the issue of immigration. Growing up in rural Vermont, it was an issue that I knew existed but didn’t face every day. Heck, where I grew up I was one of the few non-white kids and all I did was immigrate from Jersey! But that’s neither here nor there…
When I saw Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives, edited by Peter Orner, I knew I had to read it. Each chapter is the immigration story of an undocumented person. Nearly all of them made me shake my head in disbelief, because honestly, the conditions in which many of them work/live are deplorable. The basic human dignities that every human being deserves are denied to them. It’s simply unfair. It’s gross. And it’s happening right in front of us each day.
While I know I can’t solve all of the problems in the world, the next time an undocumented person walks into my clinic (which is pretty much every day), I will definitely have all that I read in mind. Not sure if we have good resources for our undocumented clients, but I think that’s something that might be useful and that we definitely need to look into.
When I saw Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives, edited by Peter Orner, I knew I had to read it. Each chapter is the immigration story of an undocumented person. Nearly all of them made me shake my head in disbelief, because honestly, the conditions in which many of them work/live are deplorable. The basic human dignities that every human being deserves are denied to them. It’s simply unfair. It’s gross. And it’s happening right in front of us each day.
While I know I can’t solve all of the problems in the world, the next time an undocumented person walks into my clinic (which is pretty much every day), I will definitely have all that I read in mind. Not sure if we have good resources for our undocumented clients, but I think that’s something that might be useful and that we definitely need to look into.
September 18, 2008
Underground America is a series of first-person narratives from illegal aliens living in the United States. The stories are told by immigrants from all over the world and in all walks of life. Individually, there's nothing that stands out, but the weight of story after story after story is almost overwhelming. This is definitely a book that shows the human side of the immigration debate. The editors also added a set of very informative appendices and a glossary.
While the content was good, the layout of the book could have been better. It has one of those half-sized dust jackets that reminds me of the 'Sanitized for Your Protection' wrappers on a hotel toilet. The jacket isn't big enough to protect the book, it slides all over the place, and it rips pretty easily. Not the most important thing, but still a negative...
While the content was good, the layout of the book could have been better. It has one of those half-sized dust jackets that reminds me of the 'Sanitized for Your Protection' wrappers on a hotel toilet. The jacket isn't big enough to protect the book, it slides all over the place, and it rips pretty easily. Not the most important thing, but still a negative...
January 15, 2013
This book does what all great books do: it challenges what you think you know, and teaches you to think more expansively. And like all great characters, the people whose oral histories are collected in this book erase stereotypes, even when they act stereotypically. Read this book to remind yourself how little you really know about anyone else's life experience, even those close to you, the ones you see every day. Read it to increase the complexity of your thinking about the issue of undocumented immigrants, and your awareness of and compassion for those for whom those words are a reality. Finally, pass it on. Share one of the narratives with your family, your students, your friends. Increase complexity and compassion all around you.
February 5, 2014
Amazing Book. I made my son, who studies Chinese, read the story about Mr. Lai who was smuggled into the U.S. from China. We are so lucky to be U.S. citizens. I don't appreciate it enough and neither do my children.
The book is a Voice of Witness book where twenty-four illegal immigrants told their stories to volunteers who then transcribed and translated hours of recordings. Then, the editors, with the guidance of the interviewees, turned the facts into first-person narratives. The stories are compelling, sad and disturbing. Certainly, the book puts the human face on immigration. This is a book that should be read by anyone who has an opinion about immigration reform in this country.
The book is a Voice of Witness book where twenty-four illegal immigrants told their stories to volunteers who then transcribed and translated hours of recordings. Then, the editors, with the guidance of the interviewees, turned the facts into first-person narratives. The stories are compelling, sad and disturbing. Certainly, the book puts the human face on immigration. This is a book that should be read by anyone who has an opinion about immigration reform in this country.
April 10, 2009
This is an important book. If you care about human rights, if you want to know more about the immigration debate, if you work in a situation that you are in contact with a large number of immigrants, read this book. It is most often heartbreaking, and at times difficult to get through. The subjects of the book have such a drive to seek a better life through hard work and sacrifice; it is quiticential American dream stuff. You will find that it gives you a new insight to the interviewee's lives and will give you a new fire for making a change. As the editor says in the forward, "In listening lies wisdom." Highly recommended.
October 17, 2008
A great look into what illegal or undocumented workers must go through and face while in America...the land of opportunity. This book would seriously blow your mind if you have never had a chance to hear the stories undocumented workers have about crossing into the US.
One of the stories involves a Guatemalan who eventually came to Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to help rebuild. He became the slave to the American woman who contracted him out to do jobs. She rarely paid him and when she did it was never the amount he deserved to have been paid.
One of the stories involves a Guatemalan who eventually came to Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to help rebuild. He became the slave to the American woman who contracted him out to do jobs. She rarely paid him and when she did it was never the amount he deserved to have been paid.
January 1, 2009
My mother always said, "Be grateful." She said I was lucky, lucky to be in America, to be an American. She's right. Thank god I'm not in a rice patty field.
"Underground America" renews an abandoned humility I have for people struggling to live. The oral/conversational narratives get tedious to plow through at times, the language can turn dull (half of the narratives are by undereducated blue collar workers), but all in all, a quick and sincere read. I will recommend this to my friends, not for its literary merits, but for its affect on the soul (clichéd as that sounds).
"Underground America" renews an abandoned humility I have for people struggling to live. The oral/conversational narratives get tedious to plow through at times, the language can turn dull (half of the narratives are by undereducated blue collar workers), but all in all, a quick and sincere read. I will recommend this to my friends, not for its literary merits, but for its affect on the soul (clichéd as that sounds).
December 5, 2013
These are oral histories of undocumented men and women conducted generally by legal aid and social service workers, and the stories are profoundly depressing. While at one level the our society welcomes their work and services, they can never be entirely assimilated, and the complex of laws and regulations sometimes splits families.
The editor spoke at the Virginia Festival of the Book and commented that the individual speakers were anxious to have their stories told, and the information is helpful to anyone who has to deal with immigrants, legal or illegal.
The editor spoke at the Virginia Festival of the Book and commented that the individual speakers were anxious to have their stories told, and the information is helpful to anyone who has to deal with immigrants, legal or illegal.
July 26, 2012
This I think, is one of theist important documentations that we have as to how things are really going for immigrants. It is the duty o the American government to help, not hinder. Many individuals who are against immigration should understand why these immigrants have left their countries. Having read the reasons why and the grotesque treatment of what these people went through, why does America have to be the same way? They are humans with rights as well. What gives this government the right to deny them? Or treat them the same as dirt?
August 30, 2015
I had to read this book for a college class. I am happy I did! It made me realize how privileged I am and how I should be thankful for the life I have been living as an American. Some of the stories hit me hard and made me uncomfortable (but in a good way). I was also able to Skype someone involved with the interviewing process and he gave my class extra information and was able to share how some are doing today. The stories are sometimes cliffhangers but that is expected with this type of book. A book that will stick with me for a while.
Want to read
August 20, 2008I heard about this book on NPR and it sounded very interesting. I've always had the sense that our very dramatic debate about immigration in this country never really touches very well on the actual lives of people who are immigrants - and the impacts that it has on individuals and families on both sides of the border.
The excerpts I read in the review of this book seem very compelling and give a human perspective to a little understood topic. Can't wait to pick this one up!
The excerpts I read in the review of this book seem very compelling and give a human perspective to a little understood topic. Can't wait to pick this one up!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews