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The Accidental Asian by Eric Liu
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The Accidental Asian

Notes of a Native Speaker

Notes of a Native Speaker

By Eric Liu

By Eric Liu

By Eric Liu

By Eric Liu

Best Seller
Paperback $16.00

Sep 07, 1999 | ISBN 9780375704864

Ebook $12.99

Dec 18, 2007 | ISBN 9780307428103

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    The Accidental Asian by Eric Liu
    Paperback $16.00
    Sep 07, 1999 | ISBN 9780375704864

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    • Paperback $16.00

      Sep 07, 1999 | ISBN 9780375704864

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      Dec 18, 2007 | ISBN 9780307428103

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    About The Accidental Asian

    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.

    About The Accidental Asian

    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.

    Also by Eric Liu

    Become America
    Guiding Lights
    See all books by Eric Liu

    Also by Eric Liu

    Become America
    Guiding Lights
    See all books by Eric Liu

    About Eric Liu

    Eric Liu is the CEO of Citizen University and directs the Aspen Institute’s Citizenship & American Identity Program. He is author of several acclaimed books, including Become America andYou’re More Powerful Than You Think. An Ashoka Fellow and a member of the American Academy… More about Eric Liu

    About Eric Liu

    Eric Liu is the CEO of Citizen University and directs the Aspen Institute’s Citizenship & American Identity Program. He is author of several acclaimed books, including Become America andYou’re More Powerful Than You Think. An Ashoka Fellow and a member of the American Academy… More about Eric Liu

    Product Details

    Category: Biography & Memoir

    Paperback | $16.00
    Published by Vintage
    Sep 07, 1999 | 224 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780375704864

    Category: Biography & Memoir

    Ebook | $12.99
    Published by Vintage
    Dec 18, 2007 | 224 Pages | ISBN 9780307428103
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    Praise

    “Eric Liu has written a powerful memoir, a memoir that renders the Asian American experience with a depth and a passion reminiscent of Richard Wright’s Black Boy. It is a major contribution to the literature that defines what it means to be an American.”
    —Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

    “A unique-and uniquely American-memoir, suffused with smarts, elegance, and warmth.”
    —Time

    “More than a reminiscence of growing up Asian in America, it is an homage to Liu’s Chineseness, and to America.”
    —Los Angeles Times

    “Wonderfully spirited. . . . Remarkable in its adamant refusal to buy into the party line of identity politics . . . Liu is fair to all sides of any issues he discusses.”
    —The New York Times Book Review

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