Customer Reviews

The Big Aiiieeeee!

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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!"

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.

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).

People have tried to censor Frank Chin (and editors) because he doesn't believe in revising an important Chinese fairy tale: Fa Mulan. Who has? Maxine Hong Kingston. What did she do? She made Fa Mulan a victim of Chinese males! This outrage has made Asian males look like misogynists, and Kingston (along with all the feminists who support her) is guilty of this. People say that Fa Mulan has gone through so many interpretations that it wouldn't be fair to just pinpoint one way of seeing her. Granted, but no where in the tale would you see Fa Mulan a victim of Chinese males. Fa Mulan is one of the best examples of what it means to be Chinese and Kingston (and others) ruined it! If it's okay to revise fairy tales because they have so many interpretations, is it okay to make the wolf from the Three Little Pigs a vegetarian?

Those who have criticized this book have (to put it plain and simple) a faulty sense of history. This is required reading for all Asians. Don't miss it.

...Amy Tan, David Henry Hwang, Maxine Hong Kingston, Gish Jen, or Jade Snow Wong (and then some!)? YOU BETTER READ THIS BOOK! These people have reinvented Asian literature that have sold out to the Christian (and for that matter Darwinian) white-racist-stereotypical form of Asian writing. You'll read it all in this book, and it is disturbing to say the least. The editors of THE BIG AIIIEEEEE! shows how these authors hate what is Chinese and invent a fake history that appease the white racist way.

Not only because it's an Asian anthology, but because the stories properly represent us Japanese and Chinese. If you want to know what all the controversy is about in the Asian American literary circles you have to buy this book. It should be required reading. It's bad enough that American society (and then some) is poisoned with so-called representative Asians like David Henry Hwang, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Amy Tan, but they seem to refuse to hear from these authors who give REAL Asian American interpretations.

My boyfriend (he's Chinese) saw my copies of Amy Tan and Maxine Hong Kingston books, he wasn't happy with my selections of these so-called Asian-American books, so he gave me the Big Aiiieeeee! I was surprised what Tan and Kingston have done (read Frank Chin's article...it's a blast!). I have to admit that I still like their (Tan and Kingston) books, but they don't represent Asian-Americans that's for sure. There are some Asian girls I know who are ashamed of being... well, Asians, so they go out with White guys (ever heard of that bimbo Margaret Cho?). I don't have a problem with that (with people going out with different races other than their own), but it seems that they're ashamed of their own heritage. They should get this book and read Sui Sin Far. Now, my favorite author! She writes about how a White woman falls in love with a Chinese man. And in spite of laws banning interracial marriage she was still not ashamed of him!

and I know how much these editors helped my ethnicity in the first Aiiieeeee! These people (Chan, Chin, Inada, and Wong) know their stuff, and they're not ashamed of their cutlure. They are unassimilated, brave, talented, and strong. You would be more proud of your Asian race after reading this book.

...on the face of the planet! Thought-provoking, scholarly, angry, and entertaining. Anybody serious about the history and literature of Asians should read the BIG AIIIEEEEE!