The Big Aiiieeeee! [Mass Market Paperback]

Frank Chin (Editor), Jeffrey Paul Chan (Editor), Lawson Fusao Inada (Editor), Shawn Wong (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1995

Includes prose, poetry, songs, excerpts from novels and plays.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Aiiieeeee!" is the angry cry of Asian Americans, "long ignored and forcibly excluded from creative participation in American culture." In their incendiary introduction, the editors of this absorbing collection condemn the "white racist imagination" that has permeated such popular Asian American works as Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club . The writings themselves--remarkably diverse, ranging from haiku to autobiography--present a subtler, often poignant picture of Chinese and Japanese immigrants and their American-born childrenpk striving to adjust to an unwelcoming new culture. The best-known piece is an excerpt from Louis Chu's novel Eat a Bowl of Tea ; other works are more obscure but no less vivid. In the short story "Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian," Sui Sin Far, one of several eloquent women writers included, describes a young girl's struggle for identity in late 19th-century America. "Why did God make us to be hooted and stared at? Papa is English, Mamma2 "m"s in text is Chinese. Why couldn't we have been either one thing or the other?" The editors' previous collection was Aiiieeeee!: An Anthology of Asian American Writers.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Partisan politics is a poor reason for putting together an anthology. Though this book claims to be an anthology of Chinese American and Japanese American literature, it is actually an excuse for the editors to put forth an agenda that condemns any writing not matching their philosophy as inherently and viciously anti-Asian and anti-Asian American. Materials in this anthology were chosen for their "political correctness" and not for their literary value. Highly respected Asian American writers such as Maxine Hong Kingston and Amy Tan are excluded for "sucking up to the white Christian fantasy." Some of the material is rehashed from their earlier anthology Aiiieeeee! ( LJ 8/74), and the newly added material does nothing to improve the scope of the collection. The result is a highly biased, very uneven collection of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and miscellaneous writings. Not recommended.
-Glenn Masuchika, Chaminade Univ. Lib., Honolulu
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Plume (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452010764
• ISBN-13: 978-0452010765
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 1.4 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #814,845 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book cannot be ignored!, March 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Big Aiiieeeee! (Mass Market Paperback)

I think the first essay "Come All Ye Asian American Writers of the Real and the Fake" (by Frank Chin), alone, is worth the price of this important book. Here Chin states:

"(Maxine Hong) Kingston, (David Henry) Hwang, and (Amy) Tan are the first writers of any race, and certainly the first writers of Asian ancestry, to so boldly fake the best-known works from the most universally known body of Asian literature and lore in history. And, to legitimize their faking, they have to fake all of Asian American history and literature, and argue that the immigrants who settled and established Chinese America lost touch with Chinese culture, and that a faulty memory combined with new experience produced new versions of these traditional stories. This version of history is their contribution to the stereotype (p.3)."

What are these stereotypes?

"The first yellows came to America with no intention of settling(p.9)." "Chinese and Japanese culture are so misogynistic they don't deserve to survive (p.9)." "Asian culture is anti-individualistic, mystic, passive, collective, and morally and ethically oppostie to Western culture (p.9)."

Whether you agree with Chin (or the editors/authors) or not, this book has serious claims that cannot be ignored. Bear in mind though, this is not a highly academic or scholarly piece of work. It's simplicity is there because the book was intended to INTRODUCE people to issues in Chinese and Japanese culture and to their literature (it's not a "say-all, end-all" dictum). Why are there more male authors than female authors? Well, why not? I hope this isn't a sneaky way of accusing the editors of being misogynistic! I mean, it's insulting to claim that they are the very thing they are avoiding. Besides, if they were misogynistic, why do they have female authors in this book?

Asian Americans will find themselves angy, passionate, and shameless. Non-asians will gain a vicissitude and true information of our history and culture. For instance, Chin states:

"The yellows were not sojourners. The proof: tongs. Chinese and Japanese culture are not more misogynistic than Western culture. The proof: Chinese and Japanese childhood literature, and history. Asian culture is more, not less, individualistic than Western culture. The proof: Asian childhood literature and history (p.9)"

Where do these stereotypes come from? "...from pure white racist fantasy and wishful thinking born of white racial self-contempt (p.9)."

Read this book and see if you're contributing to the Asian American stereotype or not! After reading it, you'd probably find yourself screaming "NO WAY!", instead of "AIIIEEEEE!"

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Affected Me Personally, September 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Big Aiiieeeee! (Mass Market Paperback)

Because of the JACL issue. My parents were involved with the Japanese American Citizens League. I was too. But, until I read The Big Aiiieeeee! I have decided to not actively participate with them. I can't by conscience follow a sect that had its genesis from a man who hated what was (and is) Japanese (ironically, he was Japanese himself). Although the JACL is not as bad as it is now, they have become liberal...perhaps, too liberal for me to join. If you're thinking about getting involved with the JACL, you should read this book first.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm a Female and I'm Not Embarassed of the Heroic Tradition, October 12, 2001

By 

tifffany Tran (santa ana, ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Aiiieeeee! (Mass Market Paperback)

You know who is? Kingston, Tan, and Hwang are. I don't see any abuse of women in the texts of Mulan, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, or even the Kitchen God. As Frank would say, "don't take my word for it, look up the text"; and, see for yourself if you think there is misogyny. You have to ask yourself: "Why would Kingston, Tan, and Hwang use "misogynistic" stories in their books and plays, if they think such stories are misogynistic?!" That's absurd. Besides, Diana Chang and Sui Sin Far are females, and they don't think the heroic tradition encourages the abuse of women. If you want a book where Frank Chin answers some of his critics, get a hold of MultiAmerica (edited by Ishmael Reed).