My Chinese-America

by Allen Gee

Eloquently written essays about aspects of Asian American life comprise this collection that looks at how Asian-Americans view themselves in light of America’s insensitivities, stereotypes, and expectations. My Chinese-America speaks on masculinity, identity, and topics ranging from Jeremy Lin and immigration to profiling and Asian silences. This essays have an intimacy that transcends cultural boundaries, and casts light on a vital part of American culture that surrounds and influences all of us.

Genres: Essays, Memoir, History, Aapi, Nonfiction

188 pages, Paperback

First published December 25, 2014

About the author

I grew up largely in Albany, NY, but spent a lot of time in NYC, visiting family there. I attended the University of New Hampshire, then the Iowa Writers Workshop, and finally, the University of Houston. I'm now a Professor of English at Georgia College. I live on Lake Sinclair, in Milledgeville, GA, and often volunteer at Andalusia, Flannery O'Connor's farm. My wife, Renee Dodd, is also a writer. Her terrific novel is: "A Cabinet of Wonders." I have two daughters, Ashley and Willa. My favorite pastimes outside of reading and writing are: running, fishing, traveling, hiking, and backpack-ing. I went fishing up in Alaska last summer, and I want to go back again.

Reviews

[Harvee Lau · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was both amazed and delighted at the frankness of some of the essays on the subject of Chinese-Americans in the U.S. Allen Gee is forthright and honest about some of his experiences and observations, yet he also shows how in touch he is with ordinary American life and how he lives it every day with his American wife and children, and his American creative writing students at Georgia College.

His topics range from racial stereotyping of Asians to his practice of non-violence in dealing with physical and emotional challenges in his daily life. He shows himself also as a hunter and fisherman, in tune with his surroundings and American life, but also in touch with the perceptions of other minorities and ethnic groups in a multi-cultural country.

This collection of essays is frank in its assessments and also eye opening for those who are interested in the point of view of a group in American society who are often seen as silent, nerdy, possibly weak except in the area of academics. It shows many sides of the Chinese-American experience, and especially the one experienced by Allen Gee.

Objective rating: 4.5/5

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book for a tour by Poetic Book Tours.

[Johnathan Yao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every now and then, I return back to Asian-American memoirs, because there is that extra depth of connection I feel with the writer having shared experiences of growing up Chinese in America. I always wish that I had discovered this genre earlier, or that this genre had come about earlier, to save myself much of the confusion I felt as a teenager. I will be sure to pass gems like these onto my children when they too may have to face the questions all minority youth are confronted with.

I particularly enjoyed the essay on Allen Gee's medical cardiac condition. Having just learned the science cardiology in med school, an essay like this humanizes the conditions so many patients have to live with and why what I'm learning and what I'm striving for matters.

[Sonia Reppe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essays on a variety of topics about being Chinese in America, from a self-professed non-stereotypical Asian-American in that he excelled in basketball as a highschooler, grew up to be an English teacher and settled in the south, in a town in Georgia that by the time of this publishing (2014) only 1% of the population was Asian.
He pushes against the demasculized stereotypes of Asain-American men, comparing it to the false hyper-agressive stereotype of American black men.
He deftly crafts a thoughtful exploration of an infamous racist rant by a UCLA white female against Asians in the Libray and of Jimmy Wong's creative response.
He also includes the story of his grandparents and parents as immigrants in America.

[Karen Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an English professor, a former basketball player, and skilled fisherman, Gee bucks a lot of stereotypes about Chinese American men. As his essays point out, he often has to deal with them anyway. He covers a wide spectrum from the very personal – family and dating – to the societal, to the universal experience of aging.

FMI see my blog post at A Just Recompense.

[Matt Witten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book, a series of essays about growing up male and Chinese-American in the United States. Well written and engaging. It gives a perspective I wasn't familiar with before, and that I found especially relevant at this time, when violence against Asian-Americans is increasing.

[morninglightmama · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of essays started of quite strong to me, with the author's powerful and gripping account of being pulled over by a Kansas police officer for no real reason. The interaction described and the attitude and behavior of the officer was more consistent from what I would have expected, and have heard, from African-Americans, for some of whom this has become a regular experience. I had not considered it common for Asian-Americans, and Gee's account showed how racism works in the same ways across color and ethnic lines. Some of the other essays deal with Gee's experiences in his childhood, in academia, and among social groups in relation to his Chinese background, while others focus more on his personal feelings about getting older, or his take on masculinity in our society. Some essays had me feeling empathetic toward him, but in others, his tone turned more self-aggrandizing and pompous, leaving me with mixed feelings. His strongest essays are the ones that shed light on his experiences as a Chinese-American, and the stereotypes and assumptions made about Asian-Americans as a whole.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stumbled upon slim book of personal essays at the library.

Gee moved out of the Bronx as a boy, grew up in an Albany suburb, and currently teaches English in rural Georgia. He runs, fishes, plays a mean game of basketball, and has visited most of the states. I was impressed with all the facets of a Chinese-American experience Gee managed to explore. I particularly enjoyed an essay about masculinity. There is also a cool experimental essay which runs two columns side by side--one a personal essay about his relationship with sports, and the other a series of meditations about Jeremy Lin, Linsanity, and Asian-Americans in sports.

I was pleasantly surprised--I was half-expecting an angry screed about racial profiling, but the book really is about his Chinese-America--America as personally experienced by him. It's a thoughtful, interesting, well-written read.

[Carolyn Moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

These essays are astute cultural criticism about race, ethnicity, identity, and masculinity, but are also very personal and intimate. One of my favorites is about the fear of aging in “Echocardiogram.” Another favorite is “2042.” While telling a story of a fishing trip in the Caribbean, Gee’s essay becomes a contemplation about race and privilege. The year 2042 is the year that non-whites will outnumber whites in America according to population predictions. He is “wondering about the influence of minorities from what will be a very different America, in a rapidly transforming world.” Masterful and well worth reading. He doesn’t offer any easy answers, just a compassionate, inquisitive, personal voice, and one that we don’t hear often enough.

[Dee Tighe · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting.

[Paul]

Review at asianamlitfans.