Customer Reviews

Charlie Chan Is Dead 2: At Home in the World (An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction--Revised and Updated)

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Jessica Hagedorn has put together a mostly impressive collection of short stories and a few novel excerpts written by Asian Americans. From well-known names to lesser known talents, this anthology covers the wide terrain of both stylistic approaches and Asian cultures. Its writers can claim heritages from Vietnam, India, the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Japan, Cambodia, and Korea. Some stories, such as Peter Ho Davies's "The Hull Case," have little, if anything, to do with Asian culture, but most have stronger connections to cultural uniqueness. Sarah Chin's "Red Wall" follows a Chinese-American narrator as she explores the faces of China as the member of a documentary film crew. Bharati Mukherjee, in her well-known and powerful story "The Management of Grief," explores the impact on the Canadian-Indian community of a plane crash in India that kills their loved ones. Ka Vang's "Ms. Pac-Man Ruined My Gang Life" tells of a Hmong member of a girl-gang who is forced by her home-girls to exact revenge on a Puerto Rican girl. Gish Jen's strong "Who's Irish?" is movingly told in broken but lucid English by a Chinese woman who doesn't like the wildness in her half-Irish granddaughter. Some of my favorite writers are included here: Chang-Rae Lee, Ruth Ozeki, Akhil Sharma, Mukherjee, Jhumpa Lahiri, Monique Truong. However, many of these forty-two writers were unknown to me before I read their stories, and I'm grateful Hagedorn introduced me to their work.

While some of these stories fall short of succeeding, all are well-written. The range in voices gives the reader a sense of the variety of the cultures and their individual members. I recommend this for readers of international fiction as well as Asian-Americans who long for writers who speak to their culture. This would make an excellent textbook for high school and college level courses that explore non-Western contemporary literature.

This is a review of a 4th anthology on Asian American fiction, with a brief comparison to ones that came before. With a goal of looking expressly for new ethnic South East Asian, Vietnamese writers, I was in luck with four entries, by Linh Dinh (1963- ), Christian Langworthy (1967- ), Dao Strom (1973- ), Monique Truong (1968- ), and a bonus by a Hmong (Cambodia), Ka Vang (1975- ).

My quest was to examine the lyrical nature of Vietnamese literature. Unfortunately none of the featured authors had this style rub off on them, dubiously trying to write as an Asian American, whatever that is supposed to imply. I came to this conclusion after skim reading the full-length books by the Dinh, Strom, and Truong.

IMHO, Linh Dinh (1st gen immigrant, 1975, fellowship in Italy) is trying too hard to write on hip topics, much like Amy Tan did in her later novel with ersatz erudition in such work as "Saving Fish from Drowning (05) [Amazon 3* instead of 4.5*]." I'd highly recommend he stick with poetry and have bilingual works published; such as Nguyen Du.

Dao Strom's (1st gen immigrant, 1975) "Grass Roof, Tin Roof," is good writing, but lacks utilizing elements of former "Viet" lyrical skills.

And Monique Truong's (1st gen immigrant, 1974, Yale, Columbia Law Sch) tries too hard trying to emulate the French.

So why are these 1st gen Vietnamese authors trying to be something that they aren't?

Only Ka Vang, (1st gen immigrant, 1980, PoliSci UMN, lit & theatre, UK), the single Hmong author stays closer to her cultural roots.

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So where does one find lyrical Vietnamese poetry and prose? Seek:

James Banerian (Ed & transl), "Vietnamese Short Stories: an intro [10 anthology]," Sphinx, 1986, 0-932729-03-7, 160pgs. Try a main metro or college library using worldcatDOTorg.

Nguyen Du (1765-1820), transl Huynh Sanh Thong, "The Tale of Kieu (bilingual Ed)," Yale, 1983, 0-300-04051-2, 211pgs, 21 bucks pbk.

Barbara Tran (MFA Columbia, Monique TD Truong, Truong K Luu (Harvard, Boston U), (Eds) "Watermark: VN Amer poetry and prose [23 authors]," Asian Amer Writers' Wkshp, 1998, 1889876046, 227pgs, 20 bucks pbk.

If more Hmong literature is desired, see,

Mai Neng Moua (Ed, MN Hist Soc), "Bamboo among the Oaks: contemporary writing by Hmong Americans [23 authors]," MNHS Borealis, 2002, 0873514378, 205pgs, 15 bucks pbk. Ms Hagedorn was aware of this anthology with comment in her intro, pxxix.

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This Reviewer admires Ms Hagedorn (1949- ), editor for this revised and updated 2004 version (original version 1993) anthology, on pursuing Asian American fiction to the next level. Her background includes born in the Philippines and studying playwrighting at ACT in SF, see wiki. This version includes a Preface by Elaine H Kim, Prof Asian Studies at Cal Berkeley. As a seeker of higher multicultural literary talent, of interest to this Reviewer was Christina Chiu, "Doctor," p76-92; Nora Okja Keller's "Beccah," p192-202; and Don Lee's "Voir Dire," p254-74. Its great that the editor has a 5-10 line bio of the author on the first page so the reader can select interesting topics.

This anthology has 42 stories. The most stories are from ethnic Filipino and Chinese authors with 10 each, then Japanese and S Indian with 6 and 5 stories, 4 each Korean and Vietnamese, 2 Pacific Islander Hawaiian, and 1 Hmong. None from Indonesia, although this populous Muslim state was acknowledged in the Intro, Sabina Murray's story "Folly" p346-61 was set in WWII Indonesia. The book includes a 10-pg bibliography and 2pgs of anthologies.

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Having re-scanned the previous books on the topic "Charlie Chan...[1] (93)" and the seminal "The Big Aiiieeeee! (83)" as well as the annual mainstream anthologies, such as "Best of Amer SS," "Best Amer Nonrequired Reading," and "The O Henry Prize Stories," means that Asian SS is becoming an accepted, more mature genre. Perhaps it will become popular enough not to wait a decade...before another anthology accumulates.

The first "Aiiieeeee! (74)" anthology, co-edited by Shawn Wong (1949- ), includes a hilarious short story (part of a NYC off-Broadway play) by Frank Chin on grandfathers and the Chinese style of raising chickens. One of the few Asian male authors, playwrights and subject of filmmakers (comparable to Amy Tan's (1952- ) "Joy Luck Club (89)") his boyhood experience was localized to CA's SFO area (see FC wiki). Both authors have furthered the stereotypical dichotomy of Asian thought patterns and typical things that Chinese hold dear, family and food.

Then there was a "Big Aiiieeeee![2] (91)" anthology that was 600+ pgs but was mainly on CN & JP authors. "Charlie Chan is Dead [1] (93)," with 48 writers in 569pgs, did not have any SE Asian authors, mainly East Asian CN, JP, KR, with a sprinkling of Filipino.

This is a great anthology to teach from: whether you're teaching a creative writing class or a literature class, this has worked very well in my experience. In its variety of styles and forms, and with authors born all across the US and in many countries abroad, this book is truly diverse.

Jessica Hagedorn's second installment of the Asian American experience, CHARLIE CHAN IS DEAD 2: AT HOME WITH THE WORLD comprises of a diverse group of provocative Asian American fictional writers who share their inspiring stories. These writers are third-fifth generation Asian Americans who were either born or immigrated to the United States during the late 1950s and 1960s and lived their formative years during the 1970s and 1980s influenced by American material and popular culture, which is a significance distinction that defines their identity. This factor captures the essence of American and Asian culture, which embodies an eclectic marriage to large proportions. All the writers and their essays have merits of their own. However, it is their storytelling that reveals a shared intimacy and complexity, which forms this shared experience. The subtitle of the book is quite fitting because it best describes "home" within this diaspora of writers.

CHARLIE CHAN IS DEAD 2 is rich with Asian American culture. The dialogue and dialects reveal the various voices and faces, which journey beyond US boundaries. The essays in this collection are graphically detailed with metaphors that relate to religion, family, and Asian cuisine. These writers embrace their culture with the voices they provide for the characters they present. The writers jokingly confront stereotypes and acknowledge and understand that it is a part of their identity. The stories speak of the present but resonate with the past struggles Asian Americans have had to experience in the United States.

The essays in CHARLIE CHAN IS DEAD 2 offer a fresh mix of Asian American voices that may appeal to a younger group of readers preferably at the high school and college level. However, it is not limited to anyone interested in literature of any genre. The most helpful aspect of this volume is its bibliographical listing at the end of the book, which may encourage first-time readers of Asian American literature to read on. On a suggested note: Read Hagedorn's first edition, CHARLIE CHAN IS DEAD: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY ASIAN AMERICAN FICTION first in order to understand the progression of the Asian American literature experience.

This second volume offers readers an opportunity to follow up on the previous volume, Charlie Chan is Dead (1993). Also edited by Jessica Hagedorn, Charlie Chan is Dead 2: At Home in the World, invites readers to explore newer, perhaps alternative representations of Asian-American experience. Davies' "Hull Case", as one reviewer noted, does not focus on Asian/Asian-American issues but Davies addresses a sobering question pertinent to Asian-American relations: Can one be happily married to a person who may not understand the other person's experience? Marilyn Chin critiques a racist and materialist culture in her two parables, "Parable of the Cake" and "Moon", the latter in which two thoughtless white-male adolescents suffer at the hands of a heavy-set American girl of Chinese descent.

But the more provocative stories, Greenfeld's "Submission", Meera Nair's "Video", and David Wong Louie's "Cold-Hearted", all pursue significant albeit contemporary themes. The volume moves comfortably away from the seminal work begun by Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Jessica Hagedorn, each of them shaping Asian-American literature at a time in which Americans had little knowledge about Asian immigrant experience. In At Home in the World, writers ponder questions concerning family relations and the pain of its limitations, racism among Asians and other ethnicities, and the ways in which US culture shapes and forms sexual identity for immigrants.

Nora Okja Keller's "Beccah" (an excerpt from the novel, Comfort Woman), Akhil Sharma's "Surrounded by Sleep", and Nair's "Video" explore issues of religion and religious practice. Sharma's story subtly suggests that religious practice may suffer after immigration to the US but Sharma avoids heavy-handed commentary and leaves us to draw our own conclusions.

While the second volume is not flawless, for some of the stories reflect more experimentation, I would recommend this volume to readers looking for current voices writing in Asian-American literature. I would also encourage any college student who has taken an Asian-American literature course to consider Charlie Chan is Dead 2 as further work in the field. The introduction by Jessica Hagedorn and the preface by Elaine Kim are worth reading.

Needed for a class I am taking, interesting stories but not my type of book for pleasure reading. The book was sent to me brand new and I like that very much.