Summary

At twenty-two, Dinaw Mengestu, the author of “Home at Last”, moves to Brooklyn, after never having had a place that he could call home. Born the Ethiopia, the authors’ parents immigrated to the US when he was two years old and lived in various places until he moved to Brooklyn. However, the author could never really understand the idea of home, or of being from somewhere.

He has very few memories of Ethiopia, unlike his parents who have a stronger connection to their home country. In fact, his father kept telling the author to remember he is from Ethiopia, but the author began to integrate this idea in the sense that he was not from America.

The author recalls he first realized that he lacks the concept of a home when he and his family lived in Peoria, Illinois and he began to notice his family did not fit in the local community. The writer also recalls the way he would join his father on evening walks which taught the author what loneliness and loss mean. In fact, both his parents would...