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Linda Pierce
American Knees Shawn Wong (1995)
Unlike other Asian-American writers, SHAWN
WONG experiments with a different form and sub-
ject matter in American Knees. He confronts issues
of gender, race, and sexuality in Hollywood style,
while offering reflections beyond endless witticisms
on Asian Americanness. The novel narrates a comi-
cal, touching love story about an Asian-American
couple who must negotiate family traditions, rac-
ism, and sexism. Wong’s intentions of writing the
novel are not only to expose the falsehood of the
stereotypes but also to demonstrate the diversity
within Asian America. Central to the novel is the
character of Raymond Ding, a 40-year-old assistant
director of minority affairs at a community college,
who betrays his duty of being a good Chinese son by
getting divorced. Aurora Crane is a Japanese/Irish-
American photographer who is confused about her
mixed ethnicity. Brenda Nishitani, Aurora’s best
friend, does not want to date Asian men but instead
goes out only with white men. Betty Nguyen is a
Vietnamese refugee who was abused by her ex-hus-
band. Raymond’s father, recently widowed, wants
to marry a Chinese picture bride. In spite of their
different experiences and backgrounds, all of them
yearn for a sense of belonging to the family and
community.
Wong shows the various ways in which Asian
Americans interact with one another. Specifically,
Asian-American men and women must deal with
their own prejudices and stereotypes about each
other. The chapter “Eye Contact” is a hilarious ac-
count of how Raymond and Aurora discover, to
their discomfort, that they are the only two Asians
at a party. After trying hard to avoid each other,
they finally meet, only to experience further mental
distress as each tries to guess the other’s motiva-
tions, feelings, and phobias. After falling in love
with Aurora, Raymond cannot decide whether he
loves her because she is half Japanese or because she
is half white. Raymond’s relationship with Aurora
suffers because of his insistence on seeing every-
thing in terms of ethnic implications. He is aware
that race is always a dominant factor in their rela-
tionships, both in public and private. It takes Ray-
mond a while to recognize that true love is beyond
racial and ethnic differences. After a breakup with
Aurora, Raymond starts to date Betty. It is in this
relationship that Raymond finally realizes his love
for Aurora and what is truly important in his life.
Su-lin YuAmong the White Moon Faces:
An Asian-American Memoir of
Homelands Shirley Geok-lin Lim (1996)
This memoir traces the author’s life story across
the continents (from Malaysia, the former British
colony of Malaya, to the United States) and fol-
lows her search for a home and a previously de-
nied feminine identity. Winner of the American
Book Award for nonfiction in 1997, Among the
White Moon Faces was also published in Singapore
with the new subtitle Memoirs of a Nonya Feminist,
nonya being a Malay word for a Chinese Malaysian
woman assimilated to Malay culture.
The text is divided into four parts: the first two
parts, set in Malaysia, are devoted to the first 25
years of her life until 1969, while the second two
are centered on her life in the United States, from16 American Knees