Gish Jen

The author brings an amazing story of a world that looks only too possible, and a family struggling to maintain its humanity in circumstances that daily threaten their every value and their very existence.

A Novel

The Resisters

In her first collection of stories since the acclaimed Who's Irish?, the beloved author of The Resisters refracts the fifty years since the opening of China through the lives of ordinary people. Beginning with a cheery, kindly letter penned by a Chinese girl in heaven to "poor Mr. Nixon" in hell, Gish Jen embarks on an eleven-story journey through U.S.-Chinese relations, capturing not only the excitement of a world on the brink of tectonic change, but the all-too-human encounters that ensue as East meets West. Opal Chen reunites with her sisters in China after a hiatus of almost forty years; American Arnie Hsu clashes with his Chinese girlfriend, Lulu Koo, who wonders why Americans "like to walk around in the woods with the mosquitoes"; Tina and Johnson Koo take wholly surprising measures to reestablish contact when their "number one daughter," Bobby, stops answering her phone in New York; and Betty Koo, brought up on "no politics, just make money," finds she must square her mother's philosophy with the repression in Hong Kong. With their profound compassion, equally profound humor, and unexpected connections, these masterly stories reflect history's shifting shadow over our boldest decisions and most intimate moments. Gradually accruing the power of a novel as it proceeds, Thank You, Mr. Nixon furnishes yet more proof of Jen's enduring place among the most eminent of American storytellers.

Stories

Thank You, Mr. Nixon

In 1968, teenager Mona Chang and her family discover a confusing new world filled with ethnic complexities when they move to exclusive Scarshill, New York

Mona in the Promised Land

Yifeng has come to America to study to be an engineer and then return to China. But soon his name is Ralph Chang, he marries and has two daughters. This is the story of a family coming together and coming apart, a family with its sights set on the prize of the great American dream.

Typical American

In three pieces originally delivered as special lectures, draws on the biography of the author's father as well as the evolution of her own work to contrast Western and Eastern ideas of self-narration and interdependency.

Tiger Writing

a novel

World and town

An anthology of short stories captures the lives and fortunes of Chinese Americans as they make their way through American society.

Who's Irish?

The arrival of a "cousin" from mainland China, arranged by Mama Wong to serve ostensibly as a nanny, throws the household of Carnegie Wong, a second-generation Chinese American, his WASP wife Blondie, and their three children into turmoil. By the author of Mona in the Promised Land. Reader's Guide available. Reprint. 35,000 first printing.

The Love Wife

The White Umbrella

Explaining the East-West Culture Gap

Girl at the Baggage Claim

"A ... study of the different idea Asians and Westerners have of the self and how this plays out in our differing approaches to art, learning, politics, business, and almost everything else"--

The Girl at the Baggage Claim

Two years after burying her husband and best friend, 68-year-old Hattie Kong moves to a small New England town where she is joined by a Cambodian family and reunited with an ex-lover before tackling challenges in the form of fundamentalist Christians andstruggling family farms.

World and Town

Maureen Corrigan

Matthew J. Bruccoli

Andrew Sean Greer

Dana Gioia

(Francis Scott), . Fitzgerald

Sam Waterston

An Introduction to The Great Gatsby (audio Recording)

The acclaimed, award-winning author of The Resisters takes measure of the fifty years since the opening of China and its unexpected effects on the lives of ordinary people. It is a unique book that only Jen could write—a story collection accruing the power of a novel as it proceeds—a work that Cynthia Ozick has called “an art beyond art. It is life itself.” Beginning with a cheery letter penned by a Chinese girl in heaven to “poor Mr. Nixon” in hell, Gish Jen embarks on a fictional journey through U.S.-China relations, capturing the excitement of a world on the brink of tectonic change. Opal Chen reunites with her Chinese sisters after forty years; newly cosmopolitan Lulu Koo wonders why Americans “like to walk around in the woods with the mosquitoes”; Hong Kong parents go to extreme lengths to reestablish contact with their “number-one daughter” in New York; and Betty Koo, brought up on “no politics, just make money,” finds she must reassess her mother’s philosophy. With their profound compassion and equally profound humor, these eleven linked stories trace the intimate ways in which humans make and are made by history, capturing an extraordinary era in an extraordinary way. Delightful, provocative, and powerful, Thank You, Mr. Nixon furnishes yet more proof of Gish Jen’s eminent place among American storytellers.

Unhappy with her own ethnic group, Mona Chang, a Chinese-American, decides to become a Jew. After all, if one has to live as a minority, choose the best. A witty look at ethnicity, multiculturalism and the melting pot. By the author of Typical American.

"The acclaimed, award-winning author of The Resisters takes measure of the fifty years since the opening of China and its unexpected effects on the lives of ordinary people. It is a unique book that only Jen could write--a story collection accruing the power of a novel as it proceeds--a work that Cynthia Ozick has called "an art beyond art. It is life itself." Beginning with a cheery letter penned by a Chinese girl in heaven to "poor Mr. Nixon" in hell, Gish Jen embarks on a fictional journey through U.S.-China relations, capturing the excitement of a world on the brink of tectonic change. Opal Chen reunites with her Chinese sisters after forty years; newly cosmopolitan Lulu Koo wonders why Americans "like to walk around in the woods with the mosquitoes"; Hong Kong parents go to extreme lengths to reestablish contact with their "number-one daughter" in New York; and Betty Koo, brought up on "no politics, just make money," finds she must reassess her mother's philosophy. With their profound compassion and equally profound humor, these eleven linked stories trace the intimate ways in which humans make and are made by history, capturing an extraordinary era in an extraordinary way. Delightful, provocative, and powerful, Thank You, Mr. Nixon furnishes yet more proof of Gish Jen's eminent place among American storytellers"--

Gish Jen

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