Asian American X: An Intersection of Twenty-First Century Asian American Voices

by Arar Han (Editor), John Hsu (Editor)

"This diverse collection, like Asian America itself, adds up to something far more vibrant than the sum of its voices."
-Eric Liu, author of The Accidental Asian

"There's fury, dignity, and self-awareness in these essays. I found the voices to be energetic and the ideas exciting."
-Diana Son, playwright ( Stop Kiss ) and co-producer ( Law & Criminal Intent )

This refreshing and timely collection of coming-of-age essays, edited and written by young Asian Americans, powerfully captures the joys and struggles of their evolving identities as one of the fastest-growing groups in the nation and poignantly depicts the many oft-conflicting ties they feel to both American and Asian cultures. The essays also highlight the vast cultural diversity within the category of Asian American, yet ultimately reveal how these young people are truly American in their ideals and dreams.

Asian American X is more than a book on identity; it is required reading both for young Asian Americans who seek to understand themselves and their social group, and for all who are interested in keeping abreast of the changing American social terrain.

Genres: Asian American, History, Race, Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published August 5, 2004

About the author

Arar Han began her career at Harvard Business School (HBS) as a casewriter for the Professor of Retail in the Marketing unit. Her speciality was turnaround management, and she wrote highly regarded HBS cases including “Nordstrom: The Turnaround” with Professor Rajiv Lal.

Arar co-edited Asian American X, a book on Asian American identities published by the University of Michigan Press. Asian American X has been taught at American colleges and universities for two decades. All proceeds have been donated.

Reviews

[Belle · Rating 3 out of 5]

My therapist recommended this to me. It’s definitely interesting to read about the perspectives of other Asian Americans in wildly different phases of their ethnic-racial identity development. It did feel like homework sometimes. The editors acknowledge that there is not a lot of age diversity among the essayists (they seem to be mostly in their late teens or early 20s in the time of writing) - and that was something I found a little frustrating. Some of the essays made me cringe, a lot. I feel that way about reading stuff I wrote around that age TBH.

I most related to the writers who talked about trying to minimize or erase their Asian-ness to try to fit in. It me. And I really do appreciate that this book exists. There should be a hundred more! It just got to be a little repetitive after a while.

[Erqi · Rating 2 out of 5]

merely interesting

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives a vast number of interesting perspectives, hardships, and experiences. Immensely enlightening and a very good read.