Leaving Deep Water: Asian American Women at the Crossroads of Two Cultures (Paperback)

by Claire S. Chow (Author) "In my favorite picture of myself as a baby, my mother is holding her three-month-old daughter almost as high as the shimmering star on top..." (more)
Key Phrases: Asian American, Japanese American, San Francisco (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Integrating ethnic identity with mainstream American culture is a complex task. In Leaving Deep Water, Claire S. Chow deftly explores the many ways that women of Asian descent have forged a place for themselves in modern society. Drawing from the personal narratives of dozens of women from China, Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries, Chow analyzes such common themes as coming of age, parental expectations, marriage and divorce, career experiences, family relationships, and aging. These intimate reflections are deeply moving, the voices unique, and the stories eye-opening, bringing new perspectives to the multicultural experience. Leaving Deep Water offers guidance, inspiration, and a shared sense of struggle while breaking down myths and celebrating the ability to build a new sense of identity in a foreign place.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Plume (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452280494
• ISBN-13: 978-0452280496
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #508,884 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful in understanding the Asian-American Experience, April 23, 1999

By A Customer

I started dating a Chinese man three years ago and have been very frusterated in trying to understand how he relates to both his family and his culture. This book was very helpful in presenting a first-hand account of the Asian-American experience. The women's accounts of their experiences growing up in families who are struggling to find a place between the old ways of their Asian cultures and the new culture of their peers were both moving and insightful. The book targets the most important areas where the need to assimilate and the desire to preserve precious culture merge; chosing a partner, raising children, and relationships with parents and family. Though this book is targeted at a female audience and all of the people interviewed for the testimonials were women, I believe this book speaks for all Asian-American people and offers insight for both sexes. After reading this book I had gained a new, informed, understanding of my fiance's challenges and a new respect for his, and all Asian-American's successes.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I've read on the Asian American female experience!, March 9, 2001

By A Customer

As a Chinese-American woman, the themes in this book resonated deeply with me. In fact, it articulated many thoughts that have been fomenting in my mind for quite sometime but that I could never articularte as clearly (and I consider myself quite articulate on these issues!). Although none of the sketches are exactly my experience; there were bit of almost everyone of of them that I could relate to. Furthermore the collage of voices made me feel that there is a group of Asian American women out there with whom I share a kindren spirit -- it is rare that a book resonates with me at such a level.

Others who have not had these experiences may not understand what comes across as "overt racism" in this book (e.g., parental objections to interracial marriage). However, the xenophobism of the older generation is the reality that many Asian Americans face, and the book does a great job of "telling it like it is" rather than trying to gloss over these issues is a more politically correct fashion.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent range of experiences and views, January 26, 2004

By A Customer

I picked up this book a couple of years ago when I became involved with a woman who has lived in America many years but is still "very Chinese." It has been invaluable in helping to understand not only our own dynamic but her relations within her family and community, her siblings and her teen children who are becoming "very American."

There is a good deal that is universal for any immigrant group or family facing problems of acculturation and generational gap -- a lot sounds familiar from my own mother's experience coming from another, European, "old country" in the 1920's. But there is also much that is specific to Asian cultures, particularly the very extended (both chronologically and geographically) families, and the lack of (or very different) cultural role models for independence from the family.

This is also a just plain 'good read', with a variety of first person voices filtered through Chow's interviews. It's the individual stories that fascinate, and the author's commentary ties them together nicely, informed by her education as a therapist.

One previous reviewer, ragamala78, found objectionable the overt and subtle racism and ethnocentricity that pervade much of the book. I'm not sure if he expected the author to provide a resounding denunciation or what; but, though far from universal, these attitudes do exist and have to be acknowledged in any discussion of the subjects dealt with here. Chow does so, and lets us make our own judgement, or lets us simply be informed. One has to suspect she is making a subtle point in juxtaposing her subjects' bitterness at racist attitudes directed toward them with their bland matter-of-fact acceptence of racist attitudes toward non-Asians.

Interesting companions might be Fae Myenne Ng's "Bone" and the Mina Shum film "Double Happiness".