Product Description

Jessica Hagedorn has transformed her bestselling novel about the Philippines during the reign of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos into an equally powerful theatrical piece that is a multi-layered tour de force. As Harold Bloom writes, "Hagedorn expresses the conflicts experienced by Asian immigrants caught between cultures . . . she takes aim at racism in the U.S. and develops in her dramas the themes of displacement and the search for belonging."

Jessica Hagedorn is a performance artist, poet, novelist and playwright, born and raised in the Philippines. Her novels include Dogeaters (Penguin 1990) which was nominated for a National Book Award and The Gangster of Love (Penguin 1996); a short story collection, Danger and Beauty (City Lights 2002).

Customer Reviews (26)

Not so sure I'd recommend
The cover art is very intriguing but the book itself is somewhat confusing to follow. It jumps around a lot and did nothing to shed some "good" light on the country of the Phillipines. If anything it fed the typical stereotypes about the people and culture and trying to get a good sense of the time periods it dealt with was really difficult. If anything, I would have enjoyed it more if the book was focused on only one or two characters and told a longer story about them instead of jumping around on 6-8 different people.

Tightly Written Novel
This is the 1st novel I've ever read by author Jessica Hagedorn and what a great novel it is! "Dogeaters" is an extremely well written work of art. It is a fast paced novel and has a diverse cast of characters, which keeps the novel interesting.

"Dogeaters" is set in Manila and touches upon a wide range of topics within its covers... Such topics as religion, politics, drug addiction, prostitution, and homosexuality, rich vs. poor, etc. The only difficulty I had with this novel was trying to keep track of who all the different characters were.

So, if you're looking for a great read, then check out this novel.

I Wanna B U
People condemned colonialism as being the exploitation of one country by another.The dominant power sucked the resources out of the weaker one, paying only a little back in terms of some technology and a semblance of law and order.But I think now we have realized that that economic bloodsucking was only one of the evils of the imperial experience.More subtle, but maybe longer lasting, was the degrading of the self among the dominated.The ruled felt powerless, they felt their whole culture had failed them and offered nothing of a future, while the West (almost always the dominating powers) remained glamorous, powerful, sexy, and almost unreachable. The dominated peoples shucked off their traditions, rejected their pasts, and tried to become Western.If this is only partly true, it is truer of the elites, who could aspire to local power if they mimicked the real rulers.In the post-colonial era some countries adopted Western institutions to benefit themselves, while others took only the outward forms of the West and used them in corrupt ways.If these remarks hold any relevance to post-colonial society, they are even more true of the Philippines, where America held out a vision of "Americanization"---democracy, education, and pop culture---which could not be delivered in reality in a Southeast Asian peasant society that had lived under loose Spanish control for over 350 years before the Yanks arrived.

DOGEATERS is an achingly realistic portrait of Manila society, where nobody wants to be what they are and everyone wants to be somebody else.Identity comes from trashy Hollywood and Manila movies, soap opera is life.The shopping-obssessed elite rejects everything in their own land.The demi-monde leers around every corner.Phoneyness is next to godliness.The riffraff rule.Everyone survives on the edge.Marginal men become mainstream.Snowy Christmas scenes and "Jingle Bells" greet a holiday, but it's all "out there" somewhere; Manila remains hot and humid, home to a Malayo-Polynesian tradition that is walled off and laughed at by the would-be foreigners that dwell in the vast city.Imelda Marcos, a character in the book, collects her shoes and puts up huge "cultural" monuments that commemorate herself.She has no clue about and no sympathy for the problems of her nation.A thinly-disguised Benigno Aquino gets assassinated and everyone betrays everyone else.Everyone turns out to be marginal in the end.

DOGEATERS starts off in a brilliant way.The first two thirds of the book is exciting and insightful.If you have ever read Vargas Llosa or Lobo Antunes, you will not find Hagedorn at all difficult.Changing narrators and jumping back and forth is part of post-modern literature.Hey, what's so new about that ?I am not at all Filipino, though I have visited that country.OK, I didn't understand most of the Tagalog words tossed into the text without explanation, but you get the sense even so.In the last third, however, the author runs out of ideas.She can't keep up the momentum created through her intense, accurate description ofcertain classes of Filipino society.The story becomes diffuse and kind of limps across the finish line like "American Graffiti".Still, for anyone who fancies a novel that really opens up a culture quite neglected and unknown in the West, DOGEATERS is a must read.

(3.5): Promising Glimps Into Philippine Culture
Let me preface this by saying that I am Filipino, but have very little knowledge of what life in the Philippines is like, so in many respects this novel breaks new ground for me (although I did recognize much of the Tagalogthat Hagedorn uses). That being said, I have to say that this book moves beyond being easily categorized as a transculturation text or something that simply received press because of its introduction of Filipino culture to the American populace (much in the same way that Alvarez and Garcia wrote books that could not be dismissed as simply being Latino-American fiction produced for an ethnic-hungry reading population). The style reminds me of the book "Twelve" in its fast paced movements and I especially liked the way the storylines of all of the characters had a way of intersecting with one another. I loved reading about Joey's character and also liked the way Hagedorn discusses a major problem with many Asian cultures - the problems of navigating the way with which Western culture bleeds into almost every facet of society. Hagedorn writes vivid descriptions of characters struggling with and enjoying the way Western entertainment has become the norm.

Problems with the novel? I guess one major concern is the over-emphasis on explaining what makes a Filipino a Filipino and the constant explanation of every little tidbit of Filipino culture. The way she uses language is well-done and people can understand the Tagalog without any translations, so I wish she had chosen to take a step back and not necessarily explain every cultural tidbit she thought a non-Filipino would not know. If that's what someone wanted they would have purchased a sociology textbook.

In the end, this is an entertaining read that does a good job of playing with narrative forms.

boo.
i thought this book would be interesting.instead, it was too intertwined with daydreams, multiple plots and different characters.it was difficult to read and hard to stay focused. ... Read more

Product Description
A ground-breaking anthology of Asian American fiction features selections from Meena Alexander, Hisaye Yamamoto, Peter Bacho, Cynthia Kadohata, Amy Tan, and many others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

in response to Jack C....
Jack, just because somebody doesn't happen to agree with your personal perspective doesn't make them "ignorant". Your perspective on the Chan and Moto films isn't the only valid view. The great Keye Luke's perspective was that the Chan films were not racist and many agree with him. That doesn't make Chan supporters "racist" or "ignorant". Their perspective is every bit as valid as yours. Chan is a symbol of justice and wisdom to many people. You should take note of the fact that he is portrayed as being superior to the white characters in HIS movies. The same is true of the Moto films. Individuals who truly love and respect Chan and Moto as cinematic heroes are in no way attempting to be "ignorant" or "racist".

I liked it.
Lol, it's ridiculous, Moto and Charlie Chan are degrading depictions of Asians...pure and simple; it's racist.Anybody who says otherwise is trully ignorant on the subject (i.e. the previous reviewer..no wonder he/she kept him/herself anonymous).Anyway, I liked the book, but I wouldn't say it's the bible for Asian American literature.Why?Well, some of the authors featured here in are not representive of Asian American literature (i.e. Elaine Kim, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Amy Tan).There's only one book that I know that is trully Asian American, and that would be THE BIG AIIIEEEEE!But, that doesn't mean you shouldn't get this book.There are some authors here that aren't sell-outs and this book makes a great summer read!

Must take exception with previous review...
The previous reviewer of this book said: Chan/Moto movies....''all with bad foreign accents, and goof-ball social ettiquette, spouting out fortune cookie wisdom and acting in some subservient role to another stronger,non-Asian character." Clearly she's never seen the movies. Though Motoand Chan were not played by Asian actors, true,the Asian characters theyplayed NEVER were 'subservient' to non-Asian characters. Theirpolice/secret service colleagues - on their level, always treated them withrespect.Lesser policement displayed prejudices - but they were used forcomic relief and were always shown up. Chan was always unfailingly polite- which made the ill-mannered non-Asians around him seem like the boorsthey were, and Moto of course beat up on everybody who deserved it.Thereis nothing denigrating in the Chan/Moto movies for any Asian/Asian-Americanwho is not obsessed with political correctness. (Treatment of thesubservient black characters for comic relief is another matter entirely).

the Asian American writer's bible
As an Asian American not-yet-published writer myself, I find this to be a incredibly valuable collection of some of the most talented Asian American authors today.As Jessica Hagedorn wrote in her introduction, for too longhas America seen Asian Americans with this Charlie Chan/Mr. Moto image intheir minds, all with bad foreign accents, and goof-ball social ettiquette,spouting out fortune cookie wisdom and acting in some subservient role toanother stronger, non-Asian character.Well, we're not.And it's abouttime that the Asian community steps up to dispel these stereotypes.

Thisanthology is such a refreshing composite of different writing styles andstories, depicting Asian Americans in as many unique ways as can fit onto569 pages.I recommend this book to anyone who was ever tired of beingtrapped in the immigrant image (or locked in any steretype), and is readyto help break the silence. ... Read more

Product Description
Jessica Hagedorn has received wide critical acclaim for her edgy, high-energy novels chronicling the clash and embrace of American and Filipino cultures. With Dream Jungle, she achieves a new level of narrative daring.

Set in a Philippines of desperate beauty and rank corruption, Dream Jungle feverishly traces the consequences of two seemingly unrelated events: the discovery of an alleged "lost tribe" and the arrival of a celebrity-studded American film crew filming an epic Vietnam War movie. Caught in the turmoil unleashed by these two incidents are four unforgettable characters—a wealthy, iconoclastic playboy, a woman ensnared in the sex industry, a Filipino-American writer, and a jaded actor—who find themselves drawn irrevocably together in this lavish, sensual portrait of a nation in crisis. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Poory written
I read everything with words on it, this book was hard to read, lacked any kind of flow , and had no real plot.I was just so disappointed. Amateurs will feel accomplished if they read this because they will think it was a hard read and they got through it, avid readers will know it was just a bad book.

I'm a Jessica Hagedorn Fan!
This is the 3rd book I've read by Jessica Hagedorn. Her writing is amazing!

The characters in Dream Jungle are well developed... The subject matter and themes discussed are also well written and developed and edgy. Dream Jungle is a fun, fast, gritty page turner! Once you begin reading this novel it is difficult to put down as you want to find out what happens next.

Dream Jungle
Loved this book. One of my new favorites. Beautiful language. Well connected and intertwined stories. Loved it!!

Just too disjointed and lacking narrative flow.
In this novel set in the Philippines in the 1970s we first meet Zamora, a wealthy Spanish landowner, as he helicopters to a remote area and discovers a small band of people who are still living the stone age.His study of this group of people seem to be his hobby and his passion.

We also meet a young girl who is a servant in his home as well as his troubled German wife who soon grows weary of her unhappy life.There's some political intrigue and some interesting characters and the story had a good chance of holding my interest.Alas, though, the author left too many connecting details out to give it a coherent narrative flow and although I continued reading, the plot never quite hung together.When I finished the book I still wasn't sure what it was about although it raised the questions that perhaps there wasn't a stone age tribe at all, but just a plot on the part of the corrupt government to give Zamora access to areas which would be politically advantageous to the dictator.If this doesn't make sense to you, it doesn't make sense to me either.

Add to this a Hollywood film crew that has come into the town to make a movie about the Vietnam War.This section of the book was probably based on the filming of "Apocalypse Now"This part seemed to flow along well until it, too, lapsed into postmodernism and left more unanswered questions.

There were some parts of the book that were extremely well done. One was the voice of the servant girl character.However, this one character was not enough to save this book from being hard to follow. On the whole, in spite of some good descriptions of the locale, Dream Jungle was too disjointed for me to recommend.

mysterious, disturbing, alluring
Such a mysterious, alluring & disturbing book!What is good: the writing. The language. The sense of place.You can feel the heat.Be utterly squashed by the poverty. Be intrigued by the characters. It's even okay that you don't know if the tribe is a hoax or not.

What is annoying:the many characters, and many POVs, so many that it's hard to keep track of them all.It is also annoying that sometimes a section on a certain character is in first person, and sometimes third.

Well worth reading. ... Read more

Product Description
An elegant and smart novel by the author of Dogeaters which captures the pain of leaving one country behind and the struggle to adapt to a new one, The Gangster of Love tells the story of the Rivera family from the Philippines, who have come to the United States to make a new life.Amazon.com Review
Jessica Hagedorn received high praise for her debut novel,Dogeaters,which took place in Manila. Her second book shows thatDogeaters was no fluke. The Gangster of Love opens inManila but the action quickly moves to San Francisco and then New Yorkbefore turning full circle. Hagedorn's worlds are peopled with amaelstrom of jostling, exuberant characters. The focal point of thisstorm of humanity is Raquel (Rocky) Rivera. The arc of her journeyfrom Manila to the United States and back will include a boyfriendnamed Elvis Chang (with whom she plays in a rock band called Gangstersof Love), a daughter, a flock of drag queens, and jobs as receptionistat an acupuncture clinic and waitress at a French-Vietnamesebistro. Original, exhilarating and electric, The Gangster ofLove takes a fresh look at family and questions of race, cultureand identity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Jessica Hagedorn writes another great novel!
I enjoyed reading this novel a lot, which had a lot to do with the Hagedorn's writing style. "The Gangster of Love" is a fast paced, edgy novel filled with great writing, interesting characters and lots of drama. This novel is anything but DULL!

This novel seems to be a cross between a coming of age story and a cultural identity story. The novel starts/opens in the 1970s and moves from that point forward based on the life of lead character, Raquel (Rocky) Rivera, Raquel's family, her boyfriend Elvis Chang, Rocky's band and her best friend, Keiko. Sex, drugs, rock and roll, along with references to Jimi Hendrix & Imelda Marcos, as well as the Filipino-American experience are all touched upon in this novel.

worth the "struggle"
I read this book for an Asian American history class and I (as well as my entire class) really enjoyed it.Unlike other Asian American literature, Jessica Hagedorn does not FOCUS on her character's Fillipina identity but instead offers it as part of a more complicated whole.This may put some people off but for me it made Rocky's character less one dimensional and much more interesting.True, as one critic has already complained, this book is not going to go on long, nostalgic descriptions of well-loved aspects of Fillipino culture, but that's not the point.This is a fast-paced novel about a Filipina growing up in the punk scene (first in San Franscisco, then New York); it is a coming of age story.However I disagree that this book does not deserve a place in Fil-Am literature.Quite oppositely, I believe this book depicts Fil-Ams in modern American culture and how they relate to others "on the fringe" of society.That Hagedorn does not focus solely on the how ethnic her characters are helps to see them as people rather than just representatives of an ethnicity. The switches in perspective help the reader to step back from Rocky and see what life is like from the perspective of other people living in her life.This allows the reader to create a more objective understanding of Rocky and the world she lives in.

An authentic voice that redeems American literature from the canon of contemporary crap
Amen to Jessica Hagedorn forredeeming post-modernist American literature from stylized pretention in her novels"Dogeaters" and "Gangster of Love."
Hagedorn succeeds where Auster and De Lillo fail in capturing polychromatic angles of 1970's 80's America, as well as the chaotic and multi-dimensional experience offamily, divorce, Filipina/Asian American identity and immigration from a country already heavily infused with American influence.
The layers of irony in the first page ofthis novel is a testimony to thestory that follows.

The book was as rocky as the characters in it.
I saw Jessica Hagedorn speak at the 92nd street Y, which is where I recieved her book. Once I began to read the book I became absorbed into her book. Jessica Hagedorn does a good job at describing the essence of the bohemian/ punk rock culture. My only problem was that the book became really confusing once in the middle. The beginning of the book was straight forward and easy to read, but once Rocky becomes pregnant , the whole book seems confusing. The book became really boring once it got to a certain point, and I became really dissapointed.

Catherine's Book Review
The Gangster of Love is a book about a Filipino girl, Raquel or Rocky Rivera, who moves to San Francisco from Manila, Philippines.She moves to San Francisco with her brother who had unusual depression moods and her wild mother, leaving behind her father and her older sister in Manila.Rocky's mother and father had an unusual on and off relationship that caused Rocky's mother, Milagros, to leave her father and oldest daughter.Her mother is a wild person who enjoys cooking lumpias and she starts her own store to make a living called "Lumpia X Press."Rocky's brother becomes depressed on and off and he sometimes has temper tantrums in the middle of the night.One of the things he really wants to do is spend time with Rocky.

Rocky is a young woman who enjoys writing poetry and songs.She meets her boyfriend, Elvis, who is starting a band.Rocky and Elvis are introduced together by her brother and they become very close in their relationship. Rocky is in a point in her life where she wants to "find herself."By finding herself, Rocky sets out on a road trip with her boyfriend, and two other band mates, to New York to find a record deal there.She is overcome with some obstacles like leaving her mother to move to New York, not spending time with her brother, making decisions about life, sex, and drugs.

I enjoyed this book because it had some humorous parts. The author didn't want their readers to be bored so she included some jokes to lighten up the story.Most of the book was humorous to me because many of her jokes were Filipino-related and I could relate to them.I don't think people who don't understand the Filipino culture very well will understand many of the jokes, but others non-Filipinos will find some of her jokes amusing.

I would recommend this book to those who are interested in reading about an immigrant coming to the United States from a foreign country, and witnessing the struggles of a young person who is traveling over the country to find what she is and who she wants to be.I would especially recommend this book to Filipino Americans who are interested about their culture and family life in the United States because when I was reading this book, I could relate to a lot of things that Rocky was talking about.I don't recommend this book to those who like books that go by really quickly because this is a book that takes a long time; it goes by pretty slow.Otherwise, I'd recommend this book to others who want to read about a woman struggling toward her decisions in life. ... Read more

Product Description
A bold new novel about the intersection of art, love, fame, and money from the acclaimed author of Dogeaters.

Jessica Hagedorn's edgy and entertaining new novel centers on the lives of two women who are neighbors in Manhattan's West Village. Mimi Smith is a filmmaker of low-budget slasher movies in search of new material. Her neighbor Eleanor Delacroix is a legendary writer of erotic fiction, now nearing eighty and addicted to cocaine and gin. Their personal and artistic lives begin to collide in unexpected ways as Eleanor grieves over the recent death of her live-in lover, the renowned painter Yvonne Wilder, and as Mimi deals with the challenges presented by her newly sober brother Carmelo; her drug-dealing boyfriend, who has mysteriously disappeared; and her wayward fourteen-year-old daughter, Violet. Looming over all these characters is the ghost of Agnes-an "illegal" and cousin of Mimi's who might have been murdered by her New Jersey employers. Toxicology is a dark yet playful exploration of money, desire, mortality, and the connection between creativity and self-destruction. ... Read more

Product Description
Rare Jessica Hagedorn memorabilia/tape interview. One of 130 interviews with contemporary writers undertaken by The American Audio Prose Library and one of the most scarce titles in the legendary series. The interview lasts 58 minutes and was conducted by the literary scholar Kay Bonetti. In a celebrated New Yorker Magazine review, Jessica Hagedorn was praised by John Updike, the most influential working reviewer/critic in America today, as one of the most talented writers of her generation. Harold Bloom, the greatest living literary critic, weighed in and wrote that "Hagedorn expresses the conflicts experienced by Asian immigrants caught between cultures. She takes aim at racism in the United States and develops in her dramas the themes of displacement and the search for belonging" (Harold Bloom). © 2005, ModernRare.com ... Read more

Product Description

For nearly three decades, Ping Chong and his company have written and staged some of the most innovative and arresting examinations of "the Other" on stages in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. His work more than any other artist has explored the ways Asian cultures have intersected with contemporary American society and throughout history.

This volume collects four of his masterworks created over the past decade, including:

Deshima (1990), a documentary collage of the history of the West and Japan;
Chinoiserie (1995), spans centuries, continents and cultures, where the mysterious East meets the mysterious West;
After Sorrow (1997), explores the legacy of war in Vietnam;
Pojagi (1999), a poetic documentary on Korea from the sixteenth century to today.

The Washington Post has said these works are "like poems in their simplicity and power to evoke . . . -carefully wrought and beautifully designed.

"As an artist , I’m an outsider in American society. As an experimental artist, I’m an outsider in the art world. As a person of color, I’m an outsider; as an immigrant, I’m an outsider; as a gay man, I’m an outsider. It’s the position that fate has allotted me, but it’s a valuable postion to be in, because I think every society should have a mirror held to it by the outsider."—Ping Chong, 1999

Ping Chong was born in 1946 and raised in the Chinatown section of New York City. He began his theatrical career with Meredith Monk and later founded his own company in 1975, which later became Ping Chong and Company. It was created to explore the meaning of contemporary theatre and art on a national and international level. He has created over fifty major works for the stage, including Humboldt’s Current, Nosferatu, Kind Ness, and Undesirable Elements. His works have received numerous Obie and Bessie Awards and are performed throughout the world.

Customer Reviews (1)

Colonization and Globarization, Vision and Culture: Ping Chong's East/West Quartet
Ping Chong's exciting new anthology, The East/West Quartet, consists of four multimedia plays about the history of East -West relations.The first, Deshima (1990) focuses on Japan's relationships with the West, Western and Japanese colonialism, and the collision of different cultures.Utilizing the visual arts-the influence of Japanese wood cuts on Van Gogh painting style-as a framework, Chong examines the changes in Japan's political and economic power in relation to European countries. The three other "poetic documentary" pieces in this anthology are Chinoiserie (1995) that explores Chinese history, After Sorrow (1997) examining Vietnamese history and Pojagi (1999) that focuses on Korean history. Each play combines speech, movement, and dance to explore how European, Japanese and American colonization, invasions, and the economic and political restructuring of the postcolonial period have impacted these countries. In each of these plays Ping Chong's skillful, eloquent multimedia expression brings to life the racism, violence and inhumanity that have accompanied the history of colonialism and the globalization of the world economy. The four plays in this anthology provide vehicles to entertain and enlighten audiences on these critical areas of our emerging century.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

I enjoyed this collection, especially the main story, Pet F
This was one of the best collections of poetry I have ever read. Though my critique may be somewhat tainted by the fact that I had dinner with her when she came to SF, I feel that the person who wrote those tales in the book-was the same sensitive person and talented artist I met and enjoyed the company of. As a young aspiring writer myself, Jessica gave me a confidence that I too can pursue my dreams, even if I never become famous for it. I told her that there are a lot of things that make me angry with this world, and fill my head with a lot of violent thoughts. She told me to "punch the paper" and let it out. These early works of hers show her punching the paper of her youth. -Samuel "Elustrisimo" Lauranilla ... Read more

Product Description
Fiction and poetry that draw from the beats of Latin soul and free jazz, rich evocations of the author's ancestral roots. Hagedorn muses about love and sex, mysticism and drugs, and probes with wry humor and sharp social satire the heart-and heartbreaks-of the immigrant experience. Here, in one volume, are early writings together with more recent work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A unique and impressive anthology of vivid poetry
Writer, performance artist, poet and playwright Jessica Hagedorn's Danger And Beauty is a unique and impressive anthology of vivid poetry, interspersed with the occasional brief prose scene, about everything from pet food and peep shows to the "dangerous music" of 1975. Monologues touching on mature subjects, the undeniable impact a Catholic upbringing has on one's life, and unfettered emotion distinguish Danger And Beauty as poetry that mingles with the forbidden. Sorcery: there are some people I know/whose beauty/is a crime./who make you so crazy/you don't know/whether to throw yourself/as them/or ... them./which makes/for a permanent madness./which could be/bad for you./you better be on the lookout/for such circumstances... ... Read more

Product Description
More than a decade after its initial publication, the groundbreaking anthology Charlie Chan Is Dead remains the best available source for contemporary Asian American fiction. Edited by acclaimed novelist and National Book Award nominee Jessica Hagedorn, Charlie Chan Is Dead 2: At Home in the World brings togetherforty-two fresh, fascinating voices in Asian American writing—from classics by Jose Garcia Villa and Wakako Yamauchi to exciting new fiction from Akhil Sharma, Ruth Ozeki, Chang-Rae Lee, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Monique Truong. Sweeping in background and literary style, from pioneering writers to newly emerging voices from the Hmong and Korean communities, these exceptional works celebrate the full spectrum of Asian American experience and identities, transcending stereotypes and revealing the strength and vitality of Asian America today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Great book and excellent condition
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.

Good, big & fat! 4th Asian-Amer anthology in 2 decades, reedited 93
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.

Great Anthology for Classes
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.

Asian American Experience Through Literature
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.

Rich and Diverse Collection
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. ... Read more

Product Description
The pages of Suitcase intertwine the freshest mix of writing, art, and photography from around the world. From Amos Oz's tale of epiphany at the border between Israeli desert and suburbia to Nuruddin Farah's account of surviving childhood, crocodiles, and colonialism in Somalia; from Jacques Derrida's reflections on politics and immigration in a new Europe to Seydou Keita's historic photographs of Mali's changing society, Suitcase's mix of international writing and art reflects a stangely familiar country in which cultures and perspectives jostle and complicate each other. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Jessica T(arahata) Hagedorn, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 1706 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Product Description
Nothing is absolute, especially in the Philippines. It is a land of opposites, where religion, spirituality, superstition, and mystery are all present in equal doses. It is a place where Catholics consult tarot card readers and prostitutes keep shrines to the Virgin Mary. Burning Heart allows a rare glimpse into this world: the taste of cane liquor and salty stews, the sound of infectious dance music, and the hopelessness of political turmoil and violence.Photographer Marissa Roth says "I saw the Philippines in terms of light: luminous, reflective, hard, and deeply shadowed. Filtering that light was the constant heat and humidity, a deceptive sensual salve, masking a country scarred by violence and pain." Her unflinching photographs uncover the importance of religion in the Philippines, as well as the social inequality, dire poverty, overpopulation, and ingrained class system that are all part of daily life. The poetry of Jessica Hagedorn reinforces these realities, but also shows that the simple pleasures we all experience as human beings-- dancing, eating, rejoicing, laughing-- are not absent from Philippine life. Together, these images and poetry are a deeply affecting vision of a country and its people. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Didn't really like it.
The shots were done well and had they been mixed in with some better one's it would have been good. As a whole the pics were just not intresting.

(not an accurate) Portrait of the Philippines
I recently visited the country and although I did witness the harshness and depression, that is only a small part of the image I have of the Philippines.What is portrayed in this book is mostly the depressed side of the country: prostitution, sick children, dirty streets, calamity, unhealthy locals, poverty.Like I said, although I was a witness to all of these, I was also a witness to a colorful culture, hospitality, pristine islands, wealth of natural resources, preserved native and colonial architecture, Fiestas, Filipinos who are content in their simple lives, smiling children.

A great insight for Americans
When most Americans think of the Philippines, they consider the wild excesses of Angeles City and the old Subic Bay era.This book goes beyond that image and gives the reader a more accurate view of the Philippines and its truly remarkable culture.

Great photos!
The photographs brought together a variety of interesting images of the Philippines.As an amateur photographer, I have been searching for photographic books on the Philippines and I found the contrast of beauty and harsh reality very well put together.The only drawback was the poetry.I didn't feel that it captured the emotion of the images.

Meaningful photographs.
This is a beautiful collection of photographs.They speak about the lives of people we hardly see in pictorial collections about the Philippines.The faces of the people are real and desperate.I am reading BinoRealuyo's Umbrella country (which I love) and these pictures almost bringto life the images in the novel.I recommend this book (and realuyo'snovel too). ... Read more

Product Description
Asian-American women writers of all ages explore a complex range of identities through poetry, fiction, essays, and memoirs, most of which have never been published. The contributors take on littleexplored topics and expand the limits of ethnic-based identity, resisting stereotypes and breaking silences. Candid and memorable, their essays, stories, and poetry change popular assumptions and engage readers.Amazon.com Review
Hailing by lineage or immigration from Asian posts such as Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Korea, Vietnam, and India, the contributors to Making More Waves are as well known as Lisa See (On Gold Mountain) and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (The Mistress of Spices ), and as new to print as 16-year-old poet Juno Parrenas. The story "Summer of My Korean Soldier" and the essay "Hambun-Hambun"neatly mirror one another, and illustrate an experience shared by all of these writers: the sense of being an outsider. In polished or jagged prose, the authors recount their lives and dig into feminist issues such as violence against women in war and peacetime, sexuality, and the nexus of race, class, and gender. They deftly explore how being Asian in America shapes such concerns and casts up others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent Read!!!
I bought a copy of "Making Waves" by the same authors. It was a powerful book, to say the least. I really admired the honesty by all of the Asian American ladies that contributed to the book.
This book, which is the follow-up, is also a powerful book, too. You see, even though I'm a Caucasian male, I'm a Christian and an ordained minister. Most of the ministry and worship I do is with Asian Americans(most of the are college age and young adult). Since I didn't grow up Asian, this book and its predecessor were a valuable resource to me.
After seeing this book, I'm more sympathetic to the struggles that Asian Americans go through, and especially the females. Too often Hollywood and the Far Eastern Movie companies have portrayed Asian Females as the sultry and sexy "Gesha Girl" stereotype. This book lets the ladies speak and takes the reader into their hearts and minds. It lets the reader know what they've actually been through, what they struggle with(and still do), and what they do to surivive. I'm glad they've shared what they did. I think it's long overdue that their voices were heard.
I would reccommend this book to anyone doing ministry to Asian American females as I do or to any male dating or married to an Asian American female. Praise God for Elaine Kim and the Asian Women United!

~*~ a thick chunk of asian heritage ~*~
i suppose you expect a formal review of some sort, but i'm just writing something freshly thought out:

i LOVE this book! it's pretty rare to discover asian american works of writing published in today's world. Itiincludes stories, essays, poems, photography, and pictures of artwork doneas well.

Anyone who is interested in heritage, asian americanliterature, or just would like a good collection of writing to read, ihighly reccomend this book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the latest of American contemporary artist Fred Wilson's views on art and its sheltering institution, the museum. Wilson is best known for site-specific installations in which he
rearranges museum collections into unusual displays of seemingly disparate objects. Using what appear to be standard curatorial and display practices, Wilson's exhibits examine unexpected relationships among objects, people, and places. Wilson developed So Much Trouble in the World at the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College using the museum's permanent collection to shed light on the politics of museum collecting, cultural representation, and human nature. The exhibit raises questions about our past and its relationship to the present--whether at Dartmouth, in the wider United States, or beyond our borders. Wilson encourages viewers to scrutinize their own expectations of museums, art, and society in light of the economic and ideological mechanisms and relationships that shape them.

The essayists in this book explore Wilson's installation, including the many artists, statesmen, showmen, and nameless others whom the artist encountered while producing So Much Trouble in the World. Daniel Webster, the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, Martin Luther King Jr., Francisco de Goya, Jacques Callot, Abraham Lincoln, Samson Occom, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Robert L. Ripley, and the horrific and tragic story of Ota Benga all have a place in this extraordinary installation and publication. ... Read more