false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170506864m/58308.jpg 58308 3 Nobody writes about the immigrant experience like Gish Jen. What sets her apart from other ethnic writers is the wide-angle lens she turns not only on her own Chinese American ethnic group, but on Jewish Americans, African Americans, Irish Americans, and just about any other hyphenate you'd care to name. Though her tales are filtered through an Asian experience, they are, at heart, the quintessential American story of immigration, assimilation, and occasional tensions with other ethnic communities. The title story, for example, is a neat variation on a time-worn theme: mothers and daughters. The narrator is an elderly Chinese woman whose thoroughly assimilated daughter, Natalie, has married into an Irish American family. Natalie is successful; her husband, John, is not. Natalie's mother comments early on: <blockquote> I always thought Irish people are like Chinese people, work so hard on the railroad, but now I know why the Chinese beat the Irish. Of course, not all Irish are like the Shea family, of course not. My daughter tell me I should not say Irish this, Irish that. </blockquote> The narrator has other thoughts on the Irish question as well, including the connection between national diet and world view: "Plain boiled food, plain boiled thinking," she says of John, then adds that "because I grew up with black bean sauce and hoisin sauce and garlic sauce, I always feel something is missing when my son-in-law talk." But it soon becomes apparent that the problems between the narrator and her daughter's family are less cultural than generational, and in the end the mother forms a surprising alliance. <p> Jen comes at the question of identity from another angle in "Duncan in China," in which a second-generation Chinese American man returns to Mainland China to teach English. Here she manages to delicately suggest the enormity of the differences between the very American Duncan and his Chinese students, coworkers, and relatives. And in "Birthmates" she places her computer programmer protagonist, Art Woo, in close proximity to the low-income, mostly black residents of a welfare hotel that he's accidentally checked into. Class, race, gender, and job security all figure into this brilliant, subtle story that looks at the dark side of the American dream and finds that failure comes in all colors. These eight stories are sharply written, filled with humor, pathos, and more than a few surprising twists and turns. Quite simply, <I>Who's Irish?</I> is a delight. <I>--Alix Wilber</I> 486111 1999 Who's Irish?: Stories total:172|5:23|4:67|3:64|2:13|1:5| 172 606 238 15 2 0 false true Fri Nov 28 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 13 07:38:36 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 28 11:42:14 -0800 2008 1 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 13 21:02:42 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 13 21:02:42 -0800 2008 Samantha Lan Chang interview where she cites Gish as a similar author. Gish has a wonderful roughness to her writing, a deadpan humor that eases the harshness of the stories. While I wouldn't necessarily compare these stories wi...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sat Jun 28 06:53:02 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 29 06:47:46 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Nov 04 14:25:27 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 10 09:34:46 -0800 2008 once more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Apr 27 23:14:15 -0700 2009 Fri May 01 07:59:13 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Mon Mar 17 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 05 13:21:15 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 17 06:40:50 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jul 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 07:32:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 06 09:25:07 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue May 26 07:45:20 -0700 2009 Tue May 26 07:45:43 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jan 06 21:53:04 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 06 21:54:56 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 03 05:25:57 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 11 18:25:28 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Fri Mar 28 06:40:34 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 28 06:43:28 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sun Sep 16 09:35:34 -0700 2007 Mon May 12 16:43:01 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Thu May 24 22:23:01 -0700 2007 Thu May 24 22:23:33 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Sat Aug 23 21:44:28 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 26 18:30:37 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Tue Mar 13 22:11:55 -0700 2007 Tue Mar 13 22:11:58 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Sun Nov 15 20:02:03 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 20:02:03 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sun Nov 15 09:47:08 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 09:47:08 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Wed Oct 21 18:57:28 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 18:57:28 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Oct 13 23:41:01 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 13 23:41:02 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Tue Sep 29 06:55:47 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 06:55:47 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=58308