{"product_id":"bad-bad-girl-9780593803738","title":"Bad Bad Girl","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eThe Resisters \u003c\/i\u003ereturns with an engrossing, blisteringly funny-sad autobiographical novel tracing a tumultuous mother-daughter relationship.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eMy mother had died, but still I heard her voice. . . \u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eGish's mother, Loo Shu-hsin, is born in 1924 to a wealthy Shanghai family whose girls are expected to restrain themselves. Her beloved nursemaid--far more loving to than her real mother--is torn from her even as she is constantly reprimanded: \"Bad bad girl! You don't know how to talk!\" Sent to a modern Catholic school by her progressive father, she receives not only an English name--Agnes--but a first-rate education. To his delight, she excels. But even then he can only sigh, \"Too bad. If you were a boy, you could accomplish a lot.\" Agnes finds solace in books and, in 1947, announces her intention to pursue a PhD in America. As the Communist revolution looms, she sets sail--never to return. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLonely and adrift in New York, she begins dating Jen Chao-Pe, an engineering student. They do their best to block out the increasingly dire plight of their families back home and successfully establish a new American life: Marriage! A house in the suburbs! A number one son! By the time Gish is born, though, the news from China is proving inescapable; their marriage is foundering; and Agnes, confronted with a strong-willed, outspoken daughter distinctly reminiscent of herself, is repeating the refrain--\"Bad bad girl! You don't know how to talk!\"--as she recapitulates the harshness of her own childhood. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSpanning continents, generations, and cultures, \u003ci\u003eBad Bad Girl\u003c\/i\u003e is a novel only Gish Jen could have written: genre-bending, courageous, wise, and as immensely incisive as it is compassionate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Knopf Publishing Group\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/21\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780593803738\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.43lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.25h x 6.13w x 0.97d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/2025 pg. 85\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/11\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/15\/2025\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Gish Jen","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51616499695797,"sku":"9780593803738","price":25.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_628f1bbc-e507-41e1-8519-945580704fac.jpg?v=1756189645","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/bad-bad-girl-9780593803738","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}