Dreamland

“Carly Goodman’s ambitious book Dreamland: America’s Immigration Lottery in an Age of Restriction is a beautifully written history about the United States Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery, and the complex intersections of race, im/migration, policy, inequities, and the American Dream. . . . [A] formidable contribution to the fields of immigration and U.S. History.”—Journal of Social History

“A well-reasoned, evenhanded account of the immigration system . . . . Goodman offers a strong defense for the visa lottery, which is not weighted by country, allowing immigrants from all over Africa.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Essential reading for those interested in the past and future of U.S. immigration policy.”—Library Journal

“A fascinating examination of the U.S. visa lottery program, its origins, and its impact over twenty-five years. . . . Dreamland is a welcome addition to the vast historiography of U.S. immigration. Its major strengths are combining two seemingly separate stories across the Atlantic Ocean and encouraging readers to view the U.S. immigration regime from the outside, a healthy antidote to the ever-powerful parochialism. It reads like a novel rather than a traditional scholarly work and will provoke questions from anyone interested in the politics of human mobility.”—Journal of American History

“Phenomenally well-researched and wide-ranging . . . . a feat . . . . Goodman hops smoothly from topics as diverse as the history of Irish immigration to the impacts of structural adjustment in West Africa to the visa lottery’s role in the first internet spam incident. Goodman chose her topic well. The visa lottery is a remarkable window into the role of the United States in a highly unequal world.”—Tim Hirschel-Burns, Los Angeles Review of Books

“Goodman skillfully employs a variety of sources, from personal interviews to archival material, to address the core issues related to the immigration lottery.”—Contingent Magazine

"McPherson argues convincingly that Iran-Contra should be plotted not as a minor sideshow in the Cold War’s final act, nor as a case study in flawed national-security policymaking, but as a key moment in the collapse of democratic norms.”—Bloomberg News

"Simultaneously hopeful and heartbreaking, Dreamland is a welcome contribution to recent immigration and US-world history. . . . Beautifully written; [Goodman] . . . marshals an impressive array of sources and a storytelling style attentive to humor and tragedy.”—H-Diplo

“Goodman has written a powerful book for any citizen interested in what it means to be a nation of immigrants.”—CHOICE

“Dreamland ventures into the streets, shops, and cafes of Ghana and Cameroon where we see the rippling impact of the Diversity Visa Lottery on the lives of ordinary West Africans. With vivid storytelling, Goodman reconstructs this ironic twist in U.S. immigration policy. An absolute knockout for understanding the impact of neoliberalism on the everyday workings of international migration.”—Ellen Wu, author of The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the Model Minority