The Accidental Asian
Encyclopedia
The Accidental Asian: Notes of a Native Speaker is a collection of memoir
s and essay
s by American writer Eric Liu
published in 1998. One of his arguments criticizes the unified Asian American
movement with uniform interests. The book was well received by major reviewers, including The New York Times Book Review
and Time
magazine.
s and short memoir
s by Liu. In the first chapter, "Song for My Father", the author recounts the story of his father's death and a memory book compiled by family and friends for the funeral. However, much of the book's content remains unknown to him as he is not able to read the Chinese text
. He laments the inability to read Chinese despite being able to speak the language in the next chapter, "Notes of a Native Speaker". The discussion on family also involves a memoir of his paternal grandmother in the final chapter, "Blood Vows". In "The Chinatown Idea", Liu writes about a short history of the New York City Chinatown
. The titular chapter, "The Accidental Asian", criticized the idea of a unified Asian American
movement with uniform interests. Liu argues against a monolithic community citing statistical evidence that more than half of Asian Americans under 34 years old are married to non-Asians. He also argues that Asians have taken the place of the Jews
as the new "model minority
" in "The New Jews". International topics are also covered in "Fear of a Yellow Planet", including the 1996 United States campaign finance controversy
which involved individuals of Chinese descent who contributed to President Bill Clinton
's re-election campaign.
, writer Gary Krist
praised The Accidental Asian because it is "enriched by elements beyond polemics", and Liu's work "covers a lot of territory without succumbing to glibness". Romesh Ratnesar
, in a review for Time
magazine, praised Liu's balanced approach toward racial topics. In the process, he "sacrifices depth for breadth", as exemplified in his discussion on the links between Chinese and Jewish cultures. This approach also caused Ratnesar to be somewhat disappointed at Liu's broad treatment of affirmative action
topics.
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
s and essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
s by American writer Eric Liu
Eric Liu
Eric P. Liu is an American writer living in Seattle, Washington.- Life and career :He was born in Poughkeepsie, New York to Chinese parents whose immigrated from Taiwan. He is a graduate of Yale University, where he was in Skull and Bones, and Harvard Law School and is a former lecturer at...
published in 1998. One of his arguments criticizes the unified Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
movement with uniform interests. The book was well received by major reviewers, including The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
and Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine.
Essays
The Accidental Asian is a collection of seven essayEssay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
s and short memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
s by Liu. In the first chapter, "Song for My Father", the author recounts the story of his father's death and a memory book compiled by family and friends for the funeral. However, much of the book's content remains unknown to him as he is not able to read the Chinese text
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
. He laments the inability to read Chinese despite being able to speak the language in the next chapter, "Notes of a Native Speaker". The discussion on family also involves a memoir of his paternal grandmother in the final chapter, "Blood Vows". In "The Chinatown Idea", Liu writes about a short history of the New York City Chinatown
Chinatown, Manhattan
Manhattan's Chinatown , home to one of the highest concentrations of Chinese people in the Western hemisphere, is located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
. The titular chapter, "The Accidental Asian", criticized the idea of a unified Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
movement with uniform interests. Liu argues against a monolithic community citing statistical evidence that more than half of Asian Americans under 34 years old are married to non-Asians. He also argues that Asians have taken the place of the Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
as the new "model minority
Model minority
Model minority refers to a minority ethnic, racial, or religious group whose members achieve a higher degree of success than the population average. It is most commonly used to label one ethnic minority higher achieving than another ethnic minority...
" in "The New Jews". International topics are also covered in "Fear of a Yellow Planet", including the 1996 United States campaign finance controversy
1996 United States campaign finance controversy
The 1996 United States campaign finance controversy, also known as Chinagate, was an alleged effort by the People's Republic of China to influence domestic American politics during the 1996 federal elections....
which involved individuals of Chinese descent who contributed to President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's re-election campaign.
Reviews
Liu's book was generally well received by book reviewers. Writing for The New York Times Book ReviewThe New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
, writer Gary Krist
Gary Krist (writer)
Gary Michael Krist is an American writer of fiction, nonfiction, travel journalism, and literary criticism. Before turning to narrative nonfiction with The White Cascade , a book about the 1910 Wellington avalanche, Krist wrote three novels--Bad Chemistry , Chaos Theory , and Extravagance...
praised The Accidental Asian because it is "enriched by elements beyond polemics", and Liu's work "covers a lot of territory without succumbing to glibness". Romesh Ratnesar
Romesh Ratnesar
Romesh Ratnesar is an Asian-American journalist and author. He is the former Deputy Managing Editor at TIME magazine, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.-Early life:...
, in a review for Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine, praised Liu's balanced approach toward racial topics. In the process, he "sacrifices depth for breadth", as exemplified in his discussion on the links between Chinese and Jewish cultures. This approach also caused Ratnesar to be somewhat disappointed at Liu's broad treatment of affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
topics.
External links
- "Song for My Father", the first chapter of The Accidental Asian