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155th out of 198 books
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223 voters
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The Accidental Asian: Notes of a Native Speaker
by
Eric Liu
Beyond black and white, native and alien, lies a vast and fertile field of human experience. It is here that Eric Liu, former speechwriter for President Clinton and noted political commentator, invites us to explore.
In these compellingly candid essays, Liu reflects on his life as a second-generation Chinese American and reveals the shifting frames of ethnic identity. Findi...more
In these compellingly candid essays, Liu reflects on his life as a second-generation Chinese American and reveals the shifting frames of ethnic identity. Findi...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
December 18th 2007
by Vintage
(first published 1998)
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When I began this book I did not envisage that I would be compelled to delve into my own ethnicity. The author writes from the perspective of an American-born Chinese raised in a predominately white society. I am a product of a mixed race ( a white father and Chinese mother) raised in a predominately white society but I could still relate to the questions he raises about what makes us what we are that go beyond culture, beyond skin color. He questions the lumping of all Asian cultures into th...more
Ah yes, how I remember this book. It was through a critique of this book that I explored for the first time the conflation of success/power with whiteness and identifications with whiteness that belie an underlying self-hatred. Nothing remarkable here, other than really bad prose.
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It seems like people enjoy this book in proportion to the amount of Liu's experience they can identify with. I wanted to like it more than I did because of particular passages, like the letter he recreates in his father's voice. I could have given five stars to that book for that. I can't believe how accurately he captured an ESL parent whose first language was Cantonese--"Be careful with the cold weather that's approaching fast," "We are so behind in handling our mails," and...more
As a reader, I intentionally thought this book was about an Asian who was born "accidental" or simply, not meant to be born at all. Of course, that didn't give me a blind eye to dive right into Eric Liu's profound story of growing up and facing conflicts of being the label: Asian American. One aspect of the author's writing and sense that I really relish is his metacognitive usage of words such as "Asian", "Chinese", "American", etc. Everytime I skim with ...more
Kelly
rated it
Recommends it for:
Asian Americans, I guess (so ... everyone currently on my 'friend' list)
I was angsting over 2 stars or 3 stars, but, hey, it's Thanksgiving.
Liu's book was certainly interesting, and really thought-provoking--ultimately it was an attempt to answer the questions What does it mean to be Chinese? and What is an Asian American? His answer, to both, is pretty much 'nothing.'
Parts of the book were very touching, like when he was talking about missing his father, or describing his grandmother (so cute). Other parts, though--I don't know. Liu a...more
Liu's book was certainly interesting, and really thought-provoking--ultimately it was an attempt to answer the questions What does it mean to be Chinese? and What is an Asian American? His answer, to both, is pretty much 'nothing.'
Parts of the book were very touching, like when he was talking about missing his father, or describing his grandmother (so cute). Other parts, though--I don't know. Liu a...more
So far I like it. Very well written, the narrator is sensitive and honest, and completely subjective. he's telling his authentic story, and in doing so is finally providing a Chinese American narrative that I can actually relate to. finally someone who acknowledges that being american born chinese is a really complicated identity that cannot be defined in any one way. (no we did not all have parents who forced us to play classical instruments, get straight A's, speak and read Chinese, work...more
I just *had* to read this book while working on a APA Heritage Month project celebrating Asian American unity, didn't I?
Eric Liu, a speechwriter for the Clinton administration, writer for Slate magazine, and professor at University of Washington, writes candidly about growing up as the son of solidly middle-class Chinese American parents from Taiwan. Though billed an overachiever (Liu questions who sets those standards, anyway), he repeatedly pushes the envelope by doing "non-A...more
Eric Liu, a speechwriter for the Clinton administration, writer for Slate magazine, and professor at University of Washington, writes candidly about growing up as the son of solidly middle-class Chinese American parents from Taiwan. Though billed an overachiever (Liu questions who sets those standards, anyway), he repeatedly pushes the envelope by doing "non-A...more
Eric Liu, a former speech writer for President Clinton, is the son of Chinese immigrants to the US. In this memoir, he describes his life and reflects on what it means to be Chinese and American. He riffs on race, minorities, culture, and people of mixed-race (He has married a white woman who has a Jewish grandmother).
His descriptions of his family and his experiences growing up in white suburban US are wonderful. His thoughts on immigrants, race and culture are not very coherent.
...more
His descriptions of his family and his experiences growing up in white suburban US are wonderful. His thoughts on immigrants, race and culture are not very coherent.
...more
Confusing age, confusing personality, lost soul as chinese- America, if he know more about China, he will have different view toward Chinese. To be success in US as Asia American.seems you have to disagree you original culture, then most America would like to read it.
i really wanted to give this book 4 or 5 stars, because there were entire passages where i felt that no one had ever understood me better than he did. i think he was much more thought-provoking and coherent when he was writing about his childhood and his relationship with his family. it was those passages that really catalyzed introspection and self-assessment in myself. in his short essays, i felt less convinced that he had an actual point to get across and was rarely moved. his chapter on asia...more
A collection of memoir driven essays concerning the gains and losses of ethnic assimilation. He uncovers the price of becoming "american" and raises many interesting questions regarding ethnic blendings. A thought-provoking read.
While I agree with his central argument that the Asian-American identity construct is wholly illusory and doctrinally fragile, I'm not convinced that it will fade away within our generation. No. So long as America continues to be obsessed with the artificial concept of race, even if "Asian-Americans" reject the label, the rest of society will likely stubbornly cling to the idea of a pan-Asia identity. Internalizing the dominant group's classification regime, the outsider legitimizes...more
The cover photo (a bowl of rice & fork) says it all about this thought provoking collection of essays exploring the idea of being Asian American and the greater meaning of race. My favorite essays are "Song for my father," "The
Chinatown idea" and "Blood Vows."
Chinatown idea" and "Blood Vows."
Some interesting anecdotes on what it is to be Chinese from a prominent Chinese American. One wonders wheter the writer himself had an identity crisis and is trying to justify his chosen lifestyle.
Other reviews are widely mixed. I haven't read many other books directly addressing the assimilation of asian immigrants into mainstream America. I'm intrigued by the idea of the New Jew mentioned later in the text.
The cultural implications of race and the physiological differences we call race and the econ/political issues of emerging economies in asia really complicate the idea that asians will have equal status in wide america. Adam Sandler may be Jewish, but being Jewish does...more
The cultural implications of race and the physiological differences we call race and the econ/political issues of emerging economies in asia really complicate the idea that asians will have equal status in wide america. Adam Sandler may be Jewish, but being Jewish does...more
It was like reading many of my own thoughts on self-identity in America. I can't recommend this enough.
Alex
added it
The Accidental Asian : Notes of a Native Speaker (Vintage) by Eric Liu (1999)
Sam
added it
Thought this sucked. Don't remember why. I just remember feeling repulsed.
He definitely raised some interesting points about the compromise for assimilating to an american culture. But at certain points in the book, I felt that Eric Liu was so disengaged with his heritage as to state that to be "chinese/asian" was to be inferior towards the american class.
I had heard great things about this book before I read it, so when I saw it at this discount bookstore for 5 bucks, I had to have it. I can't say that I didn't like the book, because I enjoyed the majority of it. I felt like I could relate to him as a first generation Asian kid growing up in two different worlds at once. I particularly liked when he talked of his visits to his grandma in Chinatown, but as the book drew on, I found myself tired, and sadly indifferent to his story.
found it problematic at times.
My brother gave this to me as a gift and I'm am grateful he did. For the first couple of chapters it was as if the author were expressing thoughts I have often had but could not voice well. It was about looking for ones self-repressed Asian spirit inside the Westernized self after the death of a parent...when the connection to the old world is now gone...a very moving book for me. Introspective words that bred my own introspection.
I think half star ratings would help me be a little more accurate in my ratings. This book falls between 3 and 4.
Liu wrote this about 10 yrs ago and I felt that what he said about the overly broad, inadequate term "Asian American" is still relevant today and to my experience.
I recommend this to anyone interested in race politics and American cultural identity.
Liu wrote this about 10 yrs ago and I felt that what he said about the overly broad, inadequate term "Asian American" is still relevant today and to my experience.
I recommend this to anyone interested in race politics and American cultural identity.
The rhetorical question remains: can one be Chinese American without simultaneously being "not" Chinese or "not" American? Liu successfully uses simple language to convey the complexity of having an identity that is self-perceived as marginal and definatly marginal to the "mainstream". Being an "accidental asian" is quite possibly the closest description i have for myself.
Interesting thoughts on Pan-Asian Identity and "yellow peril"
So far, so good. This is the story of the creation of the idea of "Asian American," peppered with Liu's personal history as a second generation American. His stories of growing up and the emotional turmoil that surrounds it is just like mine and everyone else I knew.
Liu's analysis of what the group "Asian American" is and how it is formed is very interesting.
Liu's analysis of what the group "Asian American" is and how it is formed is very interesting.
Definitely provocative and a book great for discussion in an Ethnic Studies or Asian Am course. It's still, for better or worse, a relevant text regarding what factors one should consider (or not) when it comes to identity. Tonally sometimes a little difficult to get past, but I still think it at least sparks necessary dialogue...
Interesting point of view on race/ethnicity for second generation Asians in America. Don't fully agree with everything he says, but a lot of what he states rings true for myself. It's an interesting narratice about what it means to be an American, while clinging to one's heritage and where loyalty lies for second generation Americans.
provocative and also really problematic (nationalist, essentialist...), with pretty prose that belies the lack of any serious or complex analysis. but, also in some ways the story of my family...
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