ALL IS VANITY

Re “The Americans Are Coming” by Alex Beam (Aug. 11):

Whatever the merits of this book, the competence of your reviewer, Michael Lewis, is questionable. He writes that Americans have this “national vanity” that fosters the “naive suspicion” that any foreigner would rather be one of them. Gee, how did we ever come by a crazy notion like that?

Well, how about the recent census that documents 86 foreign languages spoken in Southern California alone? Or maybe that we are so overwhelmed with illegal immigration that it has been suggested that we use our National Guard to help protect the integrity of our borders? Huh?

Lewis attempts to validate his flaky assertions, noting (for example) that Japan doesn’t suffer from this vanity. No kidding? You don’t suppose the Japanese noticed that those boatloads of fleeing Vietnamese refugees in the ‘70s didn’t head for Japan ? Huh? Huh?

ELLEN CLARK, PASADENA