Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

Greenhorn: Episodes in an Immigrant’s Life by Alex Krieger is a timely reminder of what it costs and how traumatic it can be to leave everything and everyone that you know and love to move across the sea to a new land where you don’t speak the language, don’t understand the culture, and essentially know no one. The author was just a young boy when his family decided to leave their homeland and seek opportunities after World War II, and as Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, it seemed that the newly independent state of Israel would be the place to go. From their home in Lithuania, they would travel to Poland, where they would have to stay almost a whole year, before a few months in Italy, and their final destination of Haifa, Israel. The family would settle in Israel for two years, but security fears and the enticement of the “American dream” from a relative in the United States would see them make the trip across the ocean to settle, joining with thousands of other new immigrants, with little or no English, in their new homeland. The author takes us through the trials and tribulations of a young “greenhorn” boy trying to settle into a new life, learn a new language, and assimilate into a culture he knew little about. This is the tale of an immigrant who worked hard, enjoyed the newfound freedom and opportunities America offered, and made good. This is the story of the overwhelming bulk of immigrants, despite what political rhetoric might have you believe.

Greenhorn is an inspiring and timely story, given much of the rhetoric directed at immigrants today. By following author Alex Krieger’s life story, we can see how the trauma of both the Holocaust and moving to a foreign world would affect everyone in the family, but we see the determination to rise above their travails and grasp the opportunities that living in America presented them with. The author’s childhood, his slow assimilation into American life and culture, and his determination to succeed and make his family proud of him shone through on every page. His professional life and his passion for architecture and urban planning made up a large part of his story, but underlying it was his personal experience as an immigrant and his empathy for and disappointment at the way immigrants are being treated today. The writing is beautifully crafted, and readers will be drawn in completely to sharing this author’s life story and his many, many achievements along the journey. I was impressed most of all by his understanding of the immigrant question, whatever strata of society those immigrants may come from. As a young boy arriving in America, with no English and little household income, we watch his rise to the pinnacle of academic success as an Emeritus Professor at Harvard. That, coupled with his professional success in urban design as measured by his work on the Shanghai Bund project and many more major projects, gives us the realization that anything is possible; that the dream can still be kept alive. I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend this book.