8 Asians

In the Asian ethnoburb where I live, one sees three kinds of buses.  One kind is the Santa Clara Valley Transit public transportation bus, and another is the kind is the tech bus, as white Google buses pick people up and drop off every week day near my house.  A third kind is the bus that stops at the local Asian shopping center that picks up people to trips, often to casinos.  My dad takes […] Continue »

I haven’t caught this on TV yet, but saw this Kay Jewelers’ commercial posted on Facebook recently – where Kay Jewelers shows men proposing to women asking them to marry them. What is notable of course is that in one particular case, we see a handsome Asian American man proposing to an attractive blond white woman. Usually, the pairing is often the opposite … I think the first time I noted this was in a McDonald’s […] Continue »

The Story of a Brief Marriage by Anuk Arudpragasam is a moving and intimate portrait of a man caught up in Sri Lanka’s civil war. Set in and around a refugee camp, this debut novel offers a peek into just a few short days of Dinesh’s life. Arudpragasm delves deep into this one man’s thought process, drawing it out in eloquent and elegant prose. Moments that take but a few seconds traverse multiple pages, yet the book does not feel […] Continue »

Jade Chang’s novel The Wangs vs. The World  follows one crazy Chinese American family as they try to piece their lives back together after the economic recession of 2008. Mr. Charles Wang  is a self-made man who immigrated from Taiwan and made a fortune with his beauty product empire. But a series of bad choices leaves him completely emptied out (house and cars included). His family, including his second wife and three (almost all) adult children […] Continue »

I’ve blogged about my friend Dr. Sophia Yen in the past. She’s probably the most politically active person I know (and her brother served in Iraq and her mother Sandy Yen was in the Taiwan legislature.) But by day, she’s not only a doctor but also recently launched her start-up, Pandia Health – “The easiest way to get birth control.” I caught up with her recently to learn more about her startup and her motivations. John: Today we’re talking […] Continue »

Aubergine, a new play written by Julia Cho, opens today at Playwrights Horizons in New York City. Running through October 2, it’s an emotional story about family, death, and food. Ray’s father is home on hospice with his son Ray, a first-generation Korean American chef, who is struggling with how to manage and how to cope. To notify his father’s brother, he calls on his ex-girlfriend Cornelia to tell him in Korean. When his uncle unexpectedly shows up with a soup recipe, […] Continue »

Our very own Akrypti has been quite busy since she went on a hiatus from covering APA social politics for 8Asians. She’s taken the tarot world by storm with her first book Holistic Tarot: An Integrative Approach to Using Tarot for Personal Growth back in 2015. Since its publication, Holistic Tarot became a bestseller in its category and has gone on to win four prominent book awards. Now Akrypti—I mean Benebell—is coming out with her […] Continue »

It has been a good summer for fun-loving, ass-kicking Asian American superheroines, and if you’re not already, get on board for C.B. Lee’s Not Your Sidekick. Its biggest flaw? Being the first in the series, leaving us on the edge waiting to find out what happens to Jessica Tran (I did not realize I was getting myself into a cliffhanger until I was off the cliff and there were no pages left). Jessica is the daughter of mid-class […] Continue »

Recently, ABC’s tv show, “What Would You Do?” did a segment to see what would strangers do or react if they happen to see a white woman introducing her Asian male fiance to disapproving parents: “While out to lunch, a white woman surprises her parents with news she’s newly engaged to her Asian fiancé, but they shockingly disapprove.” If you’re not familiar with the show, this is the premise: “The program features actors acting out scenes of […] Continue »

Conflict with a child can be painful to deal with for any parent – for an Asian American parent, when the conflict stems around one’s ethnic Asian background, it can be extra painful.  If that child’s life is cut short by a drunk driver before that conflict is resolved, the pain must be unimaginable.  Paul Li was put into that situation.  But instead of retreating from the world, he did two things to try to […] Continue »

Green Card: A New Musical takes on immigrant artists and the American dream in a new musical from young director Dimo Kim. Playing at Theatre at St. Clement’s until August 26, it focuses on the story of Han, an actor and a South Korean immigrant living in Harlem with an expired visa who, as a result, can’t find work. And because he can’t find work, he can’t get an artists visa. Hijinks ensue. Han finds […] Continue »

Padma Lakshmi’s memoir, Love, Loss, and What We Ate is an intimate look at family, growing, grief, and eating through life’s ups and downs. Best known for her role as host on Top Chef, Lakshmi takes us from childhood to the present in vivid detail with humor, honesty, and self-reflection. She is fully willing to unveil her flaws, capitalizing on the gift of hindsight. Lakshmi ably guides us through her triumphs and travails. She is unafraid to talk […] Continue »