American Dragons: Twenty-five Asian American Voices

American Dragons is an anthology of personal essays, poems, and short stories by Asian Americans. The book is structured into different themes related to diaspora, cultural identity, immigration, and family, and some of the stories are very touching.

I think this book is definitely a product of its time but I still think it was pretty important as it provides a historical snapshot of life as an Asian American back in the 80s and 90s.

The author/editor is a professor at UC Berkeley, and it seems that most of the writing is done by students, so the writing style is a little juvenile and could have used some editing. The best written pieces are the ones by the author at the beginning of each section, summarizing the significance of each show more section. I appreciate that he describes how Asian Americans experience unique challenges to living in the US both because of generational differences and because of the huge dichotomy between Western and Eastern cultures. This really sets the stage for the rest of the stories. show less

Earnest. ?áBetter for teens than for children. ?áObvious & almost cliched to an experienced reader of the themes, like me, but a great primer for readers less familiar. ?áMostly modern stories, not so much information on clinging to the old superstitions as some other similar books might be.

(What's interesting to me is how this wound up on my 'held' shelf... I have no idea why I would have ordered it from Clan....)