Suspended between continents and cultures, Quist charts the undercurrents of an American identity. Through these essays he explores feelings of oppression and alienation as he wrestles with a single act of violence in a Washington, DC suburb, racial tensions in a rural South Carolina town, and the welcome anonymity of crowded Bangkok streets. These personal narratives are rich with Quist's experience growing up as a person of color caught between parents, socioeconomic classes and countries .