Part Asian, 100% Hapa [Paperback]

Kip Fulbeck (Author), Paul Spickard (Afterword), Sean Lennon (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 9, 2006

Once a derogatory label derived from the Hawaiian word for half, Hapa is now being embraced as a term of pride by many people of Asian or Pacific Rim mixed-race heritage. Award-winning film producer and artist Kip Fulbeck has created a forum in word and image for Hapas to answer the question they're nearly always asked: "What are you?" Fulbeck's frank, head-on portraits are paired with the sitters' own statements of identity. A work of intimacy, beauty, and powerful self-expression, Part Asian, 100% Hapa is the book Fulbeck says he wishes he had growing up. An introduction to the rest of the world and an affirmation for Hapas themselveswho now number in the millionsit offers a new perspective on a rapidly growing population.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Part Asian, 100% Hapa is a photo album of the twenty-first-century global village. Hapa is Hawaiian slang for someone whose mixed racial heritage includes Asian or Pacific Islander ancestry. Hapa artist and writer Fulbeck decided to "increase mainstream Hapa awareness" by photographing Hapas of diverse backgrounds and ages and asking each participant how he or she copes with the daily query, "What are you?" Sean Lennon kicks things off with a smart and irreverent foreword, and Fulbeck's simply composed portraits are profoundly evocative. Each person's ethnic background reads like a poem hinting at dramatic journeys and improbable love: Japanese, French, Chinese, Irish, Swedish, Sioux, Thai, Mexican, Irish, and Native American (Yaqui). And their pithy handwritten personal statements are wry and wicked, sweet and tangy.

Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Kip Fulbeck is a photographer, filmmaker, writer, and spoken-word artist whose work has been exhibited worldwide. He is Professor and Chair of Art at UC Santa Barbara. You can see more of his work at www.redsushi.com.

Paul Spickard is professor of history and Asian American studies at UC Santa Barbara, and the author and editor of numerous books on race in America.

Sean Lennon, son of Yoko Ono and John Lennon, is a musician who lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 9, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811849597
• ISBN-13: 978-0811849593
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Portraits

More About the Author

Kip Fulbeck is a pioneering artist, spoken word performer, and filmmaker exploring multiracial identity. He has been featured on The TODAY Show, CNN, MTV and PBS and has performed and exhibited in over twenty countries and throughout the U.S.

For more information on Kip Fulbeck and The Hapa Project please visit www.redsushi.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Stunning and Much Needed!, July 6, 2006

By 

Hapa Dad (Costa Mesa, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Part Asian, 100% Hapa (Paperback)

I've never come across a book like this and I've looked for one all my life. Having grown up Hapa in the midwest in th 60's I often felt like I was the only one around. Then when my family moved to Hawaii (my dad is Caucasian military, my mom Chinese) in my teens I realized that what I had been missing all along was a community.

Part Asian 100% Hapa gives you that. It gives you a sense that you are not alone and that everyone is dealing with the same struggles of fitting in and finding out who we are. I'm 46 now and I showed it to my daughter who is 7 and she loves it as much as me especially the pics of other kids. She doesn't think about race and that's great. She just likes the book because it's about people being who they are (and she thinks it's funny too). I get tired of all the race talk and about who is this and that. This book is just honest and down to earth.

I also saw the accompanying photo show at the Japanese American National Museum in L.A. and it is phenomenal.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book!!!!, May 22, 2006

By 

Halfofsomething (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Part Asian, 100% Hapa (Paperback)

This book is really quite amazing. It brings a few good questions to mind, as well as realizations. It is interesting to read the responses to the question "What am I", especially from the children who all have a beautiful, raw way of expressing themselves, some in pictures, some in scribbles and some in blatently obvious answers, as if the kid would look at you and say "what am I, I'm a kid, duh" It really makes you think twice about asking people "what are you".

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Hapa - but moved, February 20, 2007

By 

Michael J. Lewis "mike2swim" (Orange County, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Part Asian, 100% Hapa (Paperback)

This is an amazing piece of work: Simple yet sublime. For those of us, especially in CA, fortunate to live in a multi-cultural environment this book speaks volumes and provides deep, yet subtle, insight into "the great melting pot of America".