I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: crazy eyes, marriage equality, Asian American, San Francisco, Anna May Wong (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The cover photo—comedian Cho posing Patty Hearst–style before a Symbionese Liberation Army emblem—aptly conveys this messy personal manifesto's collision of in-your-face militance and little-girl-lost victimology. The author mixes rants against war, racism, misogyny, homophobia and various prominent Republicans with confessional ponderings of her identity as a Korean-American, her difficulties with her parents and her problems with her body. The political and the personal are inseparable from the celebrity preening: "I wasn't sure... which I hated more," Cho muses, "my skin color or my talent." When she manages to break from her rage, tears and ego—as in a riff on the Asian stereotypes she gets offered as movie parts—Cho writes with perception and humor. More often, though, she wallows in screeds against the white male power structure, sprinkled with gangsta-rap posturing to establish her outlaw credentials. Even so feeble a patriarch as Andy Rooney is lambasted for "his boring ass opinions on the stupid things rich white folks think about because... they are not worried about getting called a 'fag' in school, or whether or not you have the courage and stamina to press charges against your rapist." Right on, Tania would say, but readers may wish Cho would lighten up.
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Review

Raw. Blunt. Passionate. I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight will inspire. -- Fort Worth Star Telegram --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover; First Edition edition (October 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573223190
• ISBN-13: 978-1573223195
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #739,833 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars On the page, angry just isn't that funny, January 1, 2006

By	Jason Cooper (Birmingham, AL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Cho takes on a laundry list of issues in this book, from racism to feminism to the war in Iraq, and while I agree with most of her politics, I found myself shaking my head frequently as I read the way she chose to present her ideas.

Cho is known as an activist and comedian, but in this book, she mainly comes across as an angry woman. And it's not a funny angry: it's the sort of the stuff that makes the reader raise shrug his shoulders and ask, "where did that come from?"

For example, she rakes Andy Rooney over the coals for "his boring ass opinions on the stupid things rich white folks think about..." At another point, she lays into Ann Coulter, referring to her as a "ho." This wouldn't be so troubling if she weren't criticizing the critics of Courtney Love for doing the very same thing ten pages earlier.

I'm no fan of Ann Coulter, but can't we do better than the same "I know you are but what am I?" tactics that we hate her for? Also, what did Andy Rooney ever do to anybody but bore us with his "white" opinions? Really, Margaret.

I related to a friend my concerns about this book and he offered that some of the stuff here may be stand-up material that just doesn't translate well in the written form. That may well be. Still, I couldn't but get disappointed in a book that I bought for some irreverent laughs. After all, Al Franken makes me laugh out loud with his take on the world. The fact that his politics are right on doesn't hurt.

If you're a die-hard fan of Cho's work, this isn't to be missed. The "notorious c.h.o." is in your face, guns blazing, from page the first to the last. For the rest of us, this is one to skip. I'll have to give her another chance - when she's on the stage.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Riotgrrl Manifesto, April 19, 2006

By	Logical Libertine (Sarasota, FL USA) - See all my reviews

I consider myself very liberal and am a fan of Cho. However, this book just wasn't polished enough. The topics - while all worthwhile - were dealt with in such a way that you just wondered if she was hurting the causes she feels strongly about.

As an example, her very public friendship with Damien Echols. The segment on this topic seemed contrived when she also then spoke of knowing and having friends who are criminals. I just don't think the feelings were well expressed.

This book is just one massive journal of rants that she has published. If she wants uprising from the people - I hope its better rehersed than this. I was looking for wit and biting insite. I walked away with neither.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not funny, not intelligent, not good, May 21, 2007

By	J. D. Seagraves (Michigan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight (Paperback)

Margaret Cho is a great comedian. I love comedy. Marguerite Cho is a liberal activist. I am a liberal. But in this book, Margaret Cho is not funny, and her political views are not insightful, interesting, or anything other than elementary and sad. It boggles the mind to think that someone could be so intelligent a comic and yet so dense when it comes to politics, economics, the law, and philosophy. And again, I am a liberal. I empathize with Cho's point of view on most issues. It's just that she doesn't back up her perspectives with anything approaching intelligent thought, and her observations are delivered in a crass, negative, and most importantly, unfunny manner. I have no problem with comedians who want to speak out on important issues, nor do I have a problem with politically inspired comedy, but this is not Ms. Cho's bag. She should stick to what she does best, and if she writes another smarmy, fifth-grade-level political book, her fans would be best advised to avoid it.