Finds that "Strangers from a Different Shore" is a balanced and successful example of sociological research in the comparative/historical manner, and recommends it highly. Notes that quantitative sociological research on Asian Americans is relatively undeveloped. (DM)

There is a revivification of national literature in Canada. Writers from Canada's varied cultures are producing works. One such work is "Obasan," which concerns the ostracism of Japanese Canadians after World War II. This vivid novel reveals the fate of those "outsiders" as a social commentary on injustice. (VM)

Commends the book as a general introduction. Finds, however, that much of the material is secondary, with insufficient attribution. The book's coverage of the postwar period is largely anecdotal and does not record the recent emergence of ethnic and political consciousness, community organization, and artistic expression among Asian Americans. (DM)

"Strangers from a Different Shore" paints a panoramic vista, speaks with an epic voice, is easy to read, but contains many misleading statements and imprecise generalizations. The author fails to acknowledge his debt to other researchers and writers. (DM)

"Strangers from a Different Shore" makes significant use of Asian-American literature, especially autobiography, but consistently misses the women's viewpoints of themselves and their experiences. Cites interesting and pertinent material might have been included. Calls for a feminist treatment of this subject. (DM)

Argues that Asian American literature is too narrowly defined to include the wide range of diversity it contains and calls for Asian writers to produce work from a more generous interpretive perspective. American poetry is extolled for its beauty of language and its effect on the emotions to both energize and sadden. (GR)

Introduces three Chinese-American writers who live in Hawaii: Wing Tek Lum, Darrell H. Y. Lum, and Eric Chock. Discussion and excerpts illustrate island influence on central Chinese-American themes--kinship relations, the struggle against racism, and the legacy of traditional Chinese culture in both its positive and oppressive aspects. (DM)

Notes that an Asian American literary tradition exists which involves more than the ethnicity of a group of authors, and asks: What are the components of this tradition? What is the writer's stance before it? What is the community's stake in it? What are the writer's duties to this community? What are the issues of audience, language, style and…

Asserts that all Asian-American writers create out of, and despite their awareness of a double-terror, the knowledge (empirically derived from generations of betrayal) that language can be a trap and the equally bitter realization that the only alternative is ignominous silence; and notes that Asian American literature reaches some level of…

Examines Chinese-American author M. H. Kingston's book "The Woman Warrior" and the controversy and literary response to it. Discusses the dilemma of the "ethnic" writer and other issues including the use of literary license and social documentation and tensions between historical and experiential authenticity. (JB)