second-generation Chinese American who strug-
gles to find a workable compromise between the
old-world expectations of his parents and his own
urge to assimilate into American culture. A gradu-
ate of the Culinary Institute of America, Sterling
Lung is a promising young chef specializing in
French cuisine. His first employment as a chef is at
the Richfield Ladies’ Club, an exclusive institution
in the affluent Connecticut suburbs. He seems to
have come a long way from the modest rooms in
which he lived with his parents behind their laun-
dry in Lynbrook, Long Island. But, of course, noth-
ing has ever been, or ever will be, quite so perfect
or easy in Sterling’s life.
Sterling’s parents, known to most of their fam-
ily, acquaintances, and customers by their nick-
names, “Genius” and “Zsa Zsa,” have placed all of
their hopes on their son and, in the process, have
themselves assumed a curious and not entirely co-
herent mix of traditional Chinese and contempo-
rary American values. They had done everything in
their power to prepare Sterling for medical school
and, naturally, were then quite disappointed when
he chose to become a chef instead. Indeed, after
he has frustrated their distinctly American fixation
with having a doctor in the family, they become
all the more obsessed with the idea that he should
marry a traditional Chinese woman. They even
go so far as to import a “catalogue” bride for him
from China. As his parents are thus engaged, Ster-
ling learns that his lover, a Jewish dental student
named Bliss Sass, is pregnant. Their relationship
has been so casual that he is not certain what she
expects from him in this situation.
In his professional life, Sterling faces a simi-
lar conundrum. It turns out that the Richfield
ladies do not have a taste for exquisite French
cuisine but for pedestrian Chinese fare. Sterling
very begrudgingly accommodates their tastes, and
eventually he even becomes a successful Chinese
“television chef ” when Bliss’s father, a sort of cor-
rupt Babbitt, pulls some strings. Still, Sterling very
much feels like an imposter, a sell-out, someone
who has sacrificed his professional standards and
a real satisfaction with his work for a shallow, ma-
terial success. His parents, whose opinion matters
more to him than he is willing to admit either to
them or to himself, are painfully aware that he
knows next to nothing about how to prepare Chi-
nese dishes and that he has, in fact, long disdained
their efforts to interest him in this aspect of his
cultural heritage.
The narrative builds to a complex crisis when
“Genius” is diagnosed with terminal cancer. All
of the emotional distance that has long defined
the relationship between Sterling and his father
must be bridged in a relatively short period or it
will remain with Sterling for the rest of his life.
The novel contains moments of profound pathos
juxtaposed with moments of wry humor. At first,
Sterling’s elastic narrative voice seems to repre-
sent everything that distances him from his much
more emotionally constrained father, but in the
end, Sterling’s voice conveys the rich ambiguities
that link father and son in a family and broader
cultural history, which extends well beyond their
particular difficulties.Bibliography
Gray, Paul. “Rebel Son: Assimilation’s Woes in a
Sprightly First Novel.” Time, 27 March 2000, p.
97.
Lee, Don. Review of The Barbarians Are Coming,
Ploughshares 26 (Fall 2000): 25.
Martin KichBarroga, Jeannie (1949– )
Born into a Filipino immigrant family in Milwau-
kee, Barroga graduated in 1972 from the University
of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and moved to northern
California, which since then has become a base for
her career as a playwright. She has written more
than 50 plays since 1979, and has taught and worked
as a director, producer, and literary manager.
In 1983, Barroga founded the Playwright
Forum in Palo Alto, California, and since 1985,
she has worked as the literary manager and spec-
trum artist of TheatreWorks in Palo Alto. She has
also directed and produced several plays including
Bubblegum Killers at TheatreWorks and Il Teatro in
San Francisco and Kin at the Asian American The-Barroga, Jeannie 23