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Troublemaker and Other Saints
Meet the Wongs, Shengs, and Tsuis. Each of these families has its own troubles and secrets. But the three clans-whose members include a matriarch who talks to dead relatives, her nymphomaniac granddaughter, and a street punk-share a past and face a common future. Hailed by critics, Troublemaker "refracts classic old-vs.-new-world tensions through the prism of second-generation Chinese-American Gen-Xers." (Time)Author Christina Chiu has an MFA in writing from Columbia University and has won grants from, among others, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation. One of the original founders of the Asian American Writers Workshop, she received its Van Lier Fellowship.
Paperback
First published March 5, 2001
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About the author
Christina Chiu
11 books62 followersChristina Chiu is the winner of the James Alan McPherson Award for her novel Beauty. She is also author of Troublemaker and Other Saints, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in 2001. Troublemaker was alternate selection for BOMC and QPB, a nominee for a BOMC First Fiction Award, and winner of the Asian American Literary Award. Chiu has published in Tin House, Charlie Chan is Dead 2, Not the Only One, Washington Square, and others. She received her MFA from Columbia University. She curates and co-hosts the Pen Parentis Literary Salon. Currently, Chiu is working on her next novel.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 11, 2012
written on October 31, 2001 on amazon.com:
The day After I put down the book after finishing it in one day, my mind was still dancing from stories to stories, from the Wongs, to the Shengs, to the Tsuis. But after I got over the excitement, part of me was thinking, "Trouble Maker" is just like the "Job Luck Club", stereotyping Chinese American, making up all the sad stories just to prove that we are different from all other races and never changes. The "face thing", the cover-up of family scandal, the fix-up, the dinner, and the "bao ying (what goes around comes around, payback)" are all there from JLC to the Trouble Maker. You almost can predict the end of the story if you know the usual stereotypes about Chinese American. Nevertheless, the book still intrigued me. I think first of all, the story's setting makes a big difference (or should I say a big step forward) from JLC. Unlike JLC, Trouble Maker is not just about love and happy endings. Instead, Chiu drew us a bigger picture of the nowaday society, sexuality, suicide, disorder, crime, devoice and global business. You can see vividly how the characters struggle in this canvas as real people. Chiu's writing is also very spiritual, nothing like the JLC begging for cheap tears. She wrote about tragidies, but she could strik up a real conversation that is also humourous. At the end, it just got me thinking, instead of crying or sympathizing for the characters. I am thinking, what'd I do, twenty years later, if my daughter tells me she is bi? I can see me reading this book again by then.
The day After I put down the book after finishing it in one day, my mind was still dancing from stories to stories, from the Wongs, to the Shengs, to the Tsuis. But after I got over the excitement, part of me was thinking, "Trouble Maker" is just like the "Job Luck Club", stereotyping Chinese American, making up all the sad stories just to prove that we are different from all other races and never changes. The "face thing", the cover-up of family scandal, the fix-up, the dinner, and the "bao ying (what goes around comes around, payback)" are all there from JLC to the Trouble Maker. You almost can predict the end of the story if you know the usual stereotypes about Chinese American. Nevertheless, the book still intrigued me. I think first of all, the story's setting makes a big difference (or should I say a big step forward) from JLC. Unlike JLC, Trouble Maker is not just about love and happy endings. Instead, Chiu drew us a bigger picture of the nowaday society, sexuality, suicide, disorder, crime, devoice and global business. You can see vividly how the characters struggle in this canvas as real people. Chiu's writing is also very spiritual, nothing like the JLC begging for cheap tears. She wrote about tragidies, but she could strik up a real conversation that is also humourous. At the end, it just got me thinking, instead of crying or sympathizing for the characters. I am thinking, what'd I do, twenty years later, if my daughter tells me she is bi? I can see me reading this book again by then.
April 30, 2015
So good.
The first time I tried to get into this, it was 2005, I read the first 4 stories, and then things got kind of nuts in my personal life and eventually the book had to be returned to the library. But it always stuck in the back of my mind as a book I would like to finish. I really liked what I read of it.
So now I finally got to dig back into it. And I really wish I had read it back then. Two of the stories in particular, "Trader" and "Beauty" were ones that I think I actually would have really benefited from reading back then. I regret not finishing this the first time around.
There were certain things that were a little weird: why did Georgianna have a car as a newly-minted doctor living in New York City, where exactly did Laurel and Sarah grow up, etc...but that was okay.
I do wish there had been some sort of family tree at the beginning so I could visually track who was related to who.
The first time I tried to get into this, it was 2005, I read the first 4 stories, and then things got kind of nuts in my personal life and eventually the book had to be returned to the library. But it always stuck in the back of my mind as a book I would like to finish. I really liked what I read of it.
So now I finally got to dig back into it. And I really wish I had read it back then. Two of the stories in particular, "Trader" and "Beauty" were ones that I think I actually would have really benefited from reading back then. I regret not finishing this the first time around.
There were certain things that were a little weird: why did Georgianna have a car as a newly-minted doctor living in New York City, where exactly did Laurel and Sarah grow up, etc...but that was okay.
I do wish there had been some sort of family tree at the beginning so I could visually track who was related to who.
February 11, 2017
Ok set of stories, mostly sad. Picking this up hoping it would be something similar to 'The Joy Luck Club' but its very different. Its mostly set in the US whereas the other book has plenty of back story in China which I really enjoyed.
The best part of this book is how the characters are connected. Though the stories are all independent, there is mention of characters from earlier stories and it builds a nice thread. The stories set in Hong Kong China were my favourites.
The best part of this book is how the characters are connected. Though the stories are all independent, there is mention of characters from earlier stories and it builds a nice thread. The stories set in Hong Kong China were my favourites.
February 19, 2009
Great random pickup at the library. My favorite part was figuring out all the connections between the characters in the story. The people in the stories are heartachingly human and completely recognizable. Not really a light read, but I ripped through it in a couple days, a great testimony to Chiu's lovely prose and careful plotting.
August 27, 2014
it was ohkay...I liked to see different perspectives but sometimes it was really difficult to tell which character was the main for that chapter but the stories were interesting...I guess there wasn't supposed to be a real purpose besides showing the lives of various interrelated people...I would've liked to see it all come together a bit more but the ending was alright I suppose.
February 25, 2007
One of the few books that truly captures all the facets of first generation Asian-American life.
April 26, 2014
What a page turner! A very intimate peek at those dysfunctional families we all hear about... Loved it!
November 10, 2017
Amazing writing...left me feeling I met real people... fairly gritty
July 6, 2007
When I was in high school, I really loved Amy Tan's books. But then I recently re-read some of her books, and I realized that I didn't like them at all anymore. And while reading Troublemaker and Other Saints, I just kept flashing back to The Joy Luck Club, and not in a good way. There are a couple of decent - maybe even good - stories in this collection, but for the most part, these stories feel cliched and overdone. Most of the stories center around the typical Asian-American themes: there's the typical story about the conflicts between traditional Chinese parents and their rebellious "American" offspring, the story about growing up bicultural and trying finding your identity, and so on and so forth. I'm not saying these are not worthwhile topics to explore, but certainly there are other authors out there - say, like Chang-Rae Lee - who do it with much more subtlety and nuance. The thing that struck me the most while reading these short stories is that it felt like Chiu didn't know her characters well at all. They came across as caricatures, and I found myself rolling my eyes and saying, "Give me a break," more often than not. A fast, but disappointing read.
August 10, 2014
I picked this up at a used book sale, figuring it would at least be a fairly interesting read. These stories definitely exceeded my expectations - the author managed to adopt the voice of several very different characters and at the same time maintain a common thread between each story. Each story was vivid and stayed with me even as I moved on to the next story.
March 3, 2009
A beautifully written journey into the overwhelming power, pain and support of family relationships and how they determine the paths we take in our own relationships. I really loved the interweaving of story lines as different characters are introduced and developed.
August 26, 2016
I came to the final page as I finished a second cup of coffee. Each chapter can stand in it's own. The viewpoint shifts through character and time as if reality were manipulated by a kaleidoscope. Maybe someday, when I'm smart enough, the meaning will be clear. I did thoroughly enjoy it though.
August 9, 2017
As a reader, the tales unraveled in a confusing manner. Though I completed it, I failed to make all of the character associations so it wasn't meaningful. It also reminded me of a pathetic Joy Luck Club.
October 29, 2007
FANTASTIC BOOK! Great Read.. I love reading about people from different ethnic backgrounds, families and their connection with one another and to the community and human kind as a whole.
Want to read
February 15, 2008Michelle, remember Christina? You did a signing with her in Augusta.
June 15, 2010
c. 2001
Interesting. Short-stories, but the characters were intertwined/related. Like this author.
Interesting. Short-stories, but the characters were intertwined/related. Like this author.
August 4, 2011
a collection of short stories. quite enjoyable
December 5, 2011
Chinese stories all linked together - told in a creative format - Hong Kong links
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 17, 2015
An unexpected gem.
February 10, 2020
While I wouldn't call it a tour de force, each chapter provides a snapshot of a life of a character, and the novel ends up deftly stringing the characters together from chapter to chapter like a pearl necklace. The refusal to ignore the socioeconomic status, sexuality, and sexual orientation of the characters gives a blatant middle finger up to the model minority myth - something I deeply appreciate as an Asian American. It's for this reason the book is memorable. It's important to not insist on focusing on heterosexual or successful Asian Americans all the time. Since reading this book in the early aughts, I've considered Chiu an Amy Tan for realists.
July 7, 2024
A fascinating interconnected story of the effect our lives have on other people simply through our existence and place within community.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews