The Accidental Asian: Notes of a Native Speaker

Beyond black and white, native and alien, lies a vast and fertile field of human experience. It is here that Eric Liu, former speechwriter for President Clinton and noted political commentator, invites us to explore.

In these compellingly candid essays, Liu reflects on his life as a second-generation Chinese American and reveals the shifting frames of ethnic identity. Finding himself unable to read a Chinese memorial book about his father's life, he looks critically at the cost of his own assimilation. But he casts an equally questioning eye on the effort to sustain vast racial categories like "Asian American." And as he surveys the rising anxiety about China's influence, Liu illuminates the space that Asians have always occupied in the American imagination. Reminiscent of the work of James Baldwin and its unwavering honesty, The Accidental Asian introduces a powerful and elegant voice into the discussion of what it means to be an American.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 09/07/1999
ISBN: 9780375704864
Pages: 224
Weight: 0.52lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.24w x 0.58d

Review Citations: New York Times 08/08/1999 pg. 24
Ingram Advance 08/01/1999 pg. 84