Amazon.com As a second-generation
Chinese-American, Eric Liu has grown up with an awkward relationship to race and
ethnic identity. He can follow a conversation in Chinese, although he would have
problems if he tried to take part in it; as for the written language, he is
functionally illiterate. He would be the first person to question which of his
personality traits are "Chinese" or "American," "Asian" or "white," or none of
the above, and The Accidental Asian is, in fact, a rigorous
self-examination--not merely about the costs and benefits of assimilation, but
about whether assimilation should even be viewed in those terms.
Whether he's recalling his adolescent frustration with "Chinese hair" that
just wouldn't permit itself to be styled, examining the history of Chinatown, or
pondering the mixture of fear and fascination with which China is viewed by
Americans, Liu writes with admirable personal intensity. It doesn't matter
whether you consider The Accidental Asian to be a memoir or a batch of
interconnected essays; once you've read it, you will be forced to consider for
yourself what place, if any, race has in America today (but even more so
tomorrow). --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of
this title.
The New York Times Book Review, Gary Krist
...remarkable for its adamant refusal to buy into the party line of
identity politics ... Anything but a shrill partisan, Liu is fair to all sides
of any issue he discusses. --This text refers to an out of print or
unavailable edition of this title.
The Washington Post Book World, Eric L. Wee
As large numbers of second-generation Asian Americans come of age and
try to find their psychological place in America, Liu's book can serve as a
partial road map. For others, it can help them begin to understand the struggles
of the "model minority" that often gets overlooked in this country's dialogue
about race. This book is an admirable attempt to fill that void. Liu's voice is
intelligent, thoughtful and, most of all, honest. But that voice gets
increasingly lost as the book goes on, and readers will need some determination
to make their way through it. --This text refers to an out of print or
unavailable edition of this title.
Time, Romesh Ratnesar The Accidental
Asian provides a perspective on race often ignored in America's black-white
conversation.... a unique--and uniquely American--memoir, suffused with smarts,
elegance and warmth ... Liu's careful, balanced views on race are a soothing
respite from the usual partisan cacophony.... --This text refers to an out of
print or unavailable edition of this title.
National Review, John Derbyshire
What on earth can this person have to tell us? And what, for goodness'
sake, does he have to complain about? The answers are, in order: not much,
and--of course--"racism." --This text refers to an out of print or
unavailable edition of this title.
Business Week, Catherine Yang Such
well-crafted insights--plus the portraits of loved ones such as his
irrepressible, Yoda-like grandmother Po-Po--give the book character. They are a
sign that, in the future, the author may arrive at more developed conclusions.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this
title.
Book Description What is race for? That
bracing question animates every page of The Accidental Asian, a powerful work
from one of the nation's leading young voices. In these personal and poignant
reflections on assimilation, Eric Liu articulates a vision of American identity
that will provoke and inspire. For Liu, the price of assimilation became clear
when he tried to read a memorial book about his father's life, composed in
Chinese, and found himself staring at a blur of indecipherable characters. There
in his hands was the measure of his inheritance. Liu, meanwhile, has watched
with both
wonder and concern as a pan-ethnic Asian American identity has taken shape.
Here now is a race that offers a new source of roots--but also tightens the hold
that color has upon our minds.Like so many in the second generation, Liu doesn't
know whether to embrace, resist, or redefine assimilation--and ends up doing all
three at once. He speaks candidly about his journey from a fierce pursuit of
racelessness to a slow rapprochement with race. He is not afraid to reveal his
ambivalence. At bottom, Liu is an "accidental Asian"--someone who has stumbled
upon a sense of race, who is not always sure what to do with it. Weaving
narrative and analysis into a series of elegant essays, Liu addresses a broad
range of questions:; Is whiteness America's fundamental race
problem?; Are Asian Americans really the New Jews?; Should we fear the
rising might of China?; What does a journey through Chinatown reveal
about our own lives?; What might intermarriage mean for Asian
Americans--and for the future of race itself?
The clear voice in these pages will resonate with Americans of every
hue. Beyond black and white, conservative and liberal, native and alien, lies a
vast and fertile field of human experience. It is this field that Liu, with
insight and compassion, invites us to explore. --This text refers to an out
of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Synopsis In this personable
and poignant defense of assimilation, written in the tradition of Richard
Rodriguez and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., one of the nation's leading young
Asian-American voices tackles issues of race, identity, and politics. --This
text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Publisher Random House editor
Jon Karp: In THE ACCIDENTAL ASIAN, Eric Liu has written a personal and a
political exploration of race very much in the tradition of books by Henry Louis
Gates, Shelby Steele, and Richard Rodriguez. The difference, of course, is
Eric's vantage point. While there have been many political memoirs by blacks and
Latinos, fewer Asian-American voices have been heard. In Eric Liu, we have one
of the most dynamic and intelligent young writers in the country. He is only 28
years old and he has already been featured on the cover of Newsweek as a leading
voice of Generation X. He started a national magazine as a student at Yale
University, after which he was hired by Secretary of State Warren Christopher.
Ultimately, he moved to the White House, where he became the youngest
speechwriter on President Clinton's staff. Recently, he has been a weekly
commentator on MSNBC and a regular speaker on college campuses, while studying
law at Harvard and writing for Slate. As you may have surmised, Eric is a bit of
an overachiever.
His book is at turns piercing in its insights into the politics of race
and poignant in its depiction of the lives of assimilated Asian-Americans.
Here's one example: Eric tries to read a journal about his father's early life
in China, but he can't make any sense of it because the journal is written in
Chinese, a language he barely knows. That is just one example of the distance
between one generation and another, and it serves as a dramatic starting point
for a fascinating intellectual journey. --This text refers to an out of print
or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover "Eric Liu has
written a powerful memoir, a memoir that renders the Asian American
experience with a depth and a passion reminiscent of Richard Wright's
Black Boy. It is a major contribution to the literature that defines what it
means to be an American."
--Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
"The Accidental Asian is an intelligent,
moving and painfully instructive story of an Asian American life, and will
certainly become essential reading for all those who would ask what is the
face--and heart--of an imminent America." --Chang-rae Lee, author of Native
Speaker
" Incisive, balanced, and frank, The Accidental Asian
deals persuasively with the often overlooked struggles Asian Americans face in
defining their identity in the turbulent American landscape . . .
Provocative musings on the subjects of race and
identity."
Reviews
