{"product_id":"chinese-prodigal-a-memoir-in-eight-arguments-paperback","title":"Chinese Prodigal: A Memoir in Eight Arguments - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDavid Shih\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom an exciting and sharp-voiced new observer of American culture, a forthright and probing debut exploring Asian American identity in a racially codified country\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter his father's passing in 2019, David Shih sought to unravel the underlying tensions that defined the complex relationship between him and his parents. Ultimately, this forced a reckoning with the expectations he encountered as the only son of Chinese immigrants, and with the realities of what it means to be Asian in a de facto segregated country. At a moment when anti-Asian racism is increasingly overt, \u003cem\u003eChinese Prodigal\u003c\/em\u003e is a work of rare subtlety, offering a new vocabulary for understanding a racial hierarchy too often conceived as binary.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn public life and in Shih's own, \"Asian Americanness\" has changed shape constantly, directed by the needs of the country's racial imaginary. A sliding scale, visibility for Asians in America has always been relative to the meanings of white and Black. A memoir in essays, \u003cem\u003eChinese Prodigal\u003c\/em\u003e examines the emergence of \"Asian American\" identity in a post-Civil Rights America in the wake of Vincent Chin's death. Shih guides us through the roles offered to Asian Americans to play, whether a model minority, a collaborator in the carceral state, or a plaintiff in the right-wing effort to dismantle affirmative action, illuminating what these issues have to teach us about American values and about the vexed place Asians and Asian Americans inhabit today. And mining his own experiences--from his failures of filiality to his negotiations within an interracial marriage--Shih masterfully captures the intimate costs of becoming an American.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eChinese Prodigal\u003c\/em\u003e knits together the personal, the historical, and the present, offering an incisive examination of a society and the people it has never made space for. It is a moving testimony of a son, father, and citizen stepping outside the identities imposed on him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Shih\u003c\/b\u003e is a\u003cbr\u003eprofessor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. His writing on race has\u003cbr\u003eappeared in the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, NPR's \u003ci\u003eCode Switch, Electric Literature\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eInside\u003cbr\u003eHigher Ed. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 304\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 8.1 x 5.4 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 13, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51751750336800,"sku":"9780802163431","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/df05801fab14afd8b0fabf570edd7dad.webp?v=1779979281","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/chinese-prodigal-a-memoir-in-eight-arguments-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}