Half and Half: Writers on Growing Up Biracial and Bicultural [Paperback]

Claudine C. O'Hearn (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 9, 1998

As we approach the twenty-first century, biracialism and biculturalism are becoming increasingly common.  Skin color and place of birth are no longer reliable signifiers of one's identity or origin.  Simple questions like What are you? and Where are you from? aren't answered--they are discussed.  These eighteen essays, joined by a shared sense of duality, address the difficulties of not fitting into and the benefits of being part of two worlds.  Through the lens of personal experience, they offer a broader spectrum of meaning for race and culture.  And in the process, they map a new ethnic terrain that transcends racial and cultural division.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

New Yorker O'Hearn, who was born in Hong Kong of an Irish-American father and a Chinese mother, first tells her own story?she found she could pass as Hawaiian, Italian or even Russian?then goes on to collect first-person accounts of 17 others with biracial or bicultural backgrounds who grew up in the U.S. or emigrated here. The multicultural combinations are complex and varied: a woman with a Chinese-Jamaican mother and a Chinese-American father, a man with an English father and a Jamaican mother ("They are not two shades of brown. They are black and white"), a woman with a mother from Brooklyn and a father from Bombay. Other contributors do not have a racially mixed background but write as strangers in a strange land: a South Vietnamese who escaped by boat and grew up in Southern California; a Hindu from Calcutta who attends school in America. Others reflect Mexican, Iranian and Japanese cultures. The names of some of the contributors are familiar?Gish Jen, Bharati Mukherjee, James McBride, Roxane Farmanfarmaian, Lisa See?but many are not, and although the tone throughout ranges from bitter and self-absorbed to satirical, most reveal a quiet sense of humor. Several of the entries have been published previously in anthologies or magazines.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 7^-12. Where are you from? When do you use "we" ? The answers aren't simple for the 18 writers of these personal essays who live and work in the U.S. but aren't sure where they belong. Some are immigrants; most are children or parents of biracial, bicultural families. In her introduction, editor O'Hearn (part Irish American, part Chinese) says she is always a foreigner, wherever she is ("Suspended, I can go anywhere but home"). David Mura writes with tenderness about his daughter: he is third-generation Japanese American, his wife is WASP and a small part Jewish; he sees little of his family's mixed race and culture reflected in the media. Danzy Senna's hilarious parody ("Make Mulattos, not War") says it clearly: multiculturalism is about dealing with racism and power, not about plates of ethnic food. Other contributors include the well-known writers Gish Jen and Francisco Goldman and novelist Julia Alvarez, who makes the point that Latinos as a group embrace many races and differences. Whether they feel part of the mainstream or on the edge, many teens will find themselves in these eloquent memoirs that speak about coming of age and finding a place to call home. Hazel Rochman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; 1 edition (June 9, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375700110
• ISBN-13: 978-0375700118
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.6 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #494,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing source for biracial people who feel alone! August 30, 2001

By Tabitha Moore

Format:Paperback

I received this book as a gift from a mentor in undergraduate school. It has brought so much to me in terms of understanding my experiences as a biracial person, especially growing up in a rural mostly white town. This book is also great for people who want to know what struggles we face as we try to define ourselves both as individuals and as members of society. There are also some wonderful stories written by parents of biracial and bicultural children that speak to their worries, fears and hopes for their offspring. I found those stories particularly amazing because they speak to the differences between children and their parents. Overall, this book is a collection of stories that unifies the experience of falling somewhere in between.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Educational and inspiring true confessions December 6, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

As a Puerto Rican American who looks 'mixed' because of the ethnicities that make up my Caribbean background (Spainard, African, Taino), I 'wholely' related to 'Half & Half.' Even though I am culturally 'whole' Puerto Rican, I was asked the question 'What are you?' all my life. To further compound this, my race on my birth certificate reads 'white,' an error applied to Hispanics born in '60s. I struggled with my Spanish language, married an African-American because I identified more with his culture, and at one point denied my background for the sake of my sanity. This book teaches you that the issues with one's appearance, language, and background are attributed more to people's misconceptions than one's perceptions. As Phillipe Wamba, one of the contributing authors wrote (in 'Half & Half'): 'It is difficult to define yourself when others are so eager to do it for you.' Until we all learn to identify each other as individuals ('who' we are), instead of emphasizing 'what we are,' we will continue to struggle for acceptance in this multicultural world.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book for biracial/bicultural families and people August 30, 2001

By Tabitha ann Moore

Format:Paperback

received this book as a gift from a mentor in undergraduate school. It has given so much to me in terms of understanding my experiences as a biracial person, especially growing up in a rural, mostly white town. This book is also great for people who want to know what struggles we face as we try to define ourselves both as individuals and as members of US society. There are also some wonderful stories written by parents of biracial and bicultural children that speak to their worries, fears and hopes for their offspring. I found those stories particularly amazing because they speak to the differences between children and their parents. I appreciate the attention to the multicultural perspective and the way the authors weave many aspects such as socio-economic status, culture, gender and sexuality into their stories. Overall, this book is a collection of experiences that unifies the reality of those of us who fall somewhere in between dichotomized racial constructs.