My friend Ariel has this knack for recommending books I end up enjoying immensely, so when she recommended Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel American Born Chinese
First thing first: the book is targeted towards “young adults” — it won a Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, and it’s a very quick read for that reason; those of you that are expecting a version of “My Dinner with Andre” in comic book quotes will probably be more comfortable with something like Derek Kirk Kim’s Same Difference. (Which I also totally recommend, by the way.)
All of that said, it’s a very good graphic novel. American Born Chinese consists of three seemingly non-tangential stories: a tale about the Monkey King, a story involving a Chinese American teenager adjusting in an all-white school, and a faux-sitcom-with-laugh-track plot line involving a white guy and his stereotype Asian cousin named Chin-Kee. The three stories touch on topics that we’ve all been through growing up and still go through as adults: the desperate feeling of wanting to fit in somewhere, racism, both subtle and overt, one-way crushes that make you want to stab your face with an icepick. (And a out-of-the-blue one-panel reference to Western Christianity, but that’s kind of a spoiler of sorts. You’ll see what I mean when you read it.)
Because it’s a graphic novel, the plot lines of the three stories tie together neatly at the end, and because it won an award in Young Adult Literature, you can expect healthy doses of self-identity exploration, and the resonating theme that it’s okay to be yourself, whether monkey or Chinese American. That said, I wholly recommend the book for any adult who can appreciate a good story in comic book format, and I certainly recommend the book for Asian Americans, as this book certainly resonated with me.
You can buy the book at Amazon
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7 Comments to “Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese”
jaehwan wrote:
I got this one from Amazon at around the same time I got Adrian Tomine’s “Shortcomings” (though Shortcomings wasn’t yet available in graphic novel form, so I got three separate comic books). I enjoyed Shortcomings a lot because it was open, honest, and thought-provoking.
I would’ve enjoyed American Born Chinese as well, but that Western Christianity thing that you mention ruined it for me. It happened at one of the crucial moments, and I felt as if I’d been blindsided. I won’t spoil it for those about to read it, but I felt as if I had been jumped by missionaries when the story brought that out of left field.
I will say that the artwork and general storyline were good. If you happen to be an Asian American Christian, I think you’ll like this book a lot.
Posted on 21-Oct-08 at 10:22 pm | Permalink
Ernie wrote:
jaehwan: For me, I kinda grew up in a Christian household so it probably didn’t bother me as much as it may other people. An interesting footnote: the author is a high school teacher at a Catholic School in the Bay Area. They may have something to do with it. Or maybe not.
Posted on 21-Oct-08 at 10:25 pm | Permalink
Akrypti wrote:
Kartika interviewed Gene in our first issue:
PDF: http://www.kartikareview.com/issue1/1gene.pdf
HTML: http://www.kartikareview.com/issue1/1gene.html
Posted on 22-Oct-08 at 7:57 am | Permalink
Moye wrote:
i agree with jaehwan’s thoughts. not that you should compare the two, but i read shortcomings at the same time as well and considered it much more emotionally provocative and relevant.
i did like ABC, but something about it seemed a little too “safe.” then again, this is probably because it’s geared towards young adults. so i’m really glad it got the recognition that it deserved.
Posted on 22-Oct-08 at 8:32 am | Permalink
jaehwan wrote:
Hey Ernie,
I saw that Catholic teacher note on the book…after I had bought it! Haha.
I grew up in a Christian household too, but my experience with the church wasn’t so great. I’ve seen some really bad things take place under the cross by people who were ostensibly God-fearing people, and so I’ll admit that I’m biased.
Yang and other writers have a right to play with the stories, but one thing that Frank Chin mentioned when he was up in Portland is that we don’t know the original stories. I read an abridged version of the original a few months after reading ABC, and the tone is completely different. It was amazing how of a difference that one panel made…
Posted on 22-Oct-08 at 8:39 am | Permalink
Chris Wong wrote:
Gene Yang was my comp sci teacher! You should check out the Gordon Yamamoto series he made, too.
Posted on 22-Oct-08 at 3:37 pm | Permalink
THE_BANANA_REPUBLIC wrote:
I enjoyed ABC, but I hadn’t noticed any heavy handed christian influences. I mean if there were, they certainly weren’t dogmatic.
Posted on 23-Oct-08 at 12:36 am | Permalink
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