University of South Carolina Libraries
'Who's Irish?'asks Gish Jen in her new short stow collection by Erica Noonan Associated Press Cambridge, Mass. — Gish Jen’s cast of inter nationally minded characters don’t slide into the great American melting pot without some trial and trouble. And it’s the friction of assimilation that fuels her latest short-story collection, “Who’s Irish?,” which explores the idiosyncrasies of Chinese and Irish culture. In the collection’s title story, an elderly Chi nese woman is comically bewildered by the atti tudes of her Americanized daughter, Natalie, and her chronically unemployed Irish-American son in-law, John Shea. Deaumui wiiu, ueauuiui uaugiuei, ueauuiui house, oven can clean itself automatically.... If John lived in China, he would be very happy. But he is not happy. Even at the gym things go wrong. One day, he pull a muscle. Another day, weight room too crowded. Always something.” Another story, “Duncan in China, ” follows an aimless, 30-ish Chinese-American who moves to China to escape the shadow of his BMW-driving, import-export tycoon brother. Duncan longs for the mythical China of “no bility and restraint,” But he’s mortified to find his Western sensibilities thoroughly ruffled by the poverty and political oppression he finds in mod pm-Hav ^hanHnncr After spending time with a relative scarred by the Cultural Revolution, Duncan comes to the icon oclastic realization that “the China of the early 1980s had more to do with eating melon seeds around a coal heater the size of a bread box than about Sung dynasty porcelain.” Jen, 43, is no stranger to cultural mix-and match. The child of immigrant parents who came to America to study but were prevented front re turning by the Communist revolution, Jen was raised in affluent Scarsdale, N.Y. During an arty phase in her teen-age years, she c/ changed her first name from Lillian to Gish, after the silent-screen actress of the same name. When she finished high school, Jen went to Harvard University where she graduated with a de gree in English. Although she loved to write, she spent an aimless semester in business school at Stan ford University before committing to a career as a novelist. A stint in 1985 at Radcliffe College’s Bunting Institute helped create an “atmosphere of expec tation” that allowed her to write professionally, Jen said. During a recent interview in the kitchen of her Gunbridge home, about a mile from the Harvard campus, Jen said her own life is a hodgepodge of work, travel and time spent with family — her third-generation Irish-American husband, their young son and infant daughter. She said a desire to stir up the cultural caul dron and see what bubbled to the top helped dri ve her 1996 breakthrough novel, “Mona in the Promised Land.” A comedic tale of a Chinese-American teen ager’s quest to convert to Judaism, the book could have rubbed the politically correct crowd—both Jewish and Chinese — the wrong way, Jen ac knowledged. “I was kind of nervous,” she admitted. “But it’s less a matter of political correctness than po litical sensitivity. If you are slightly insensitive, you will get nailed. You have to do your homework.” As it turned out, “Mona” received raves from reviewers, but more important, was embraced by critics like Cynthia Ozick, who often writes about Jewish culture. That affirmation, Jen said, gave her the confi dence to tackle more serious social issues, like do mestic violence, in “Who’s Irish?” Jen’s success has much to do with talent. But she is also the beneficiary of happy timing—bring ing her stories forth when audiences are ready and willing to hear them. Her first book, “Typ ical American,” emerged in 1991, just as Chinese American novelists like Amy Tan and Gus Lee were writing best sellers and readers of all ethnic backgrounds were show ing unprecedented inter est in multicultural fic tion. Jen’s hard-luck story of immigrants Ralph and Helen Chang, and their struggle to find security and happiness in 1950s America, struck a nerve. It wasjustasChinese Americans as a group were coming into their own as a minority popu lation eager to explore their ancient and modem heritage, Jen said. “There was an open ness and receptivity on the part of the audience,” she said. The novel was meant to consider the evolu tion of the American dream from the purely eco nomic goals of the newly arrived immigrant to the pursuit of life’s less tangible pots of gold: love, so cial status, spiritual peace. “It’s a long way from Horatio Alger,” she said. “I wanted to made the reader reconsider what a ‘typical American’ really is. The second genera tion [of immigrants] have a very different set of problems.” And “Who’s Irish?” arrived on bookshelves this summer, just as the short story form enjoys a popular revival. The book keeps company with new collections by fiction powerhouses, such as Alice Munro, Lorrie Moore, Annie Proulx and Al ice Hoffman. Jen said she admires other contemporary short story writers, while also drawing inspiration from enduring women authors like Grace Paley and Jane Austen. Ozick and Jamaica Kincaid also rate highly for their daring, unconventional approaches to prose. “They are fearlessly bad,” she chuckled. “I’m fearfully bad.” Jen said she’s still deciding whether to produce another novel or more short stories. There are potential projects “simmering,” she said, politely declining to reveal more. “I’m having a great time being a mom right now,” she said. “I am very, very lucky.” ■R Tabla from page 5 Jersey. He began performing on televi son, radio, and various stages from age 5. He was acknowledged as a child prodi .jy by Kahn in 1981 at the age of 4. At 7, he won the “NY State Under 18 Service Award” for creating an original string instrument. Mayookh returned to India to train under Panit Jnan Prakash Ghosh, and is currently under the training of Khan. He also studies with Kathak leg end Padmadmabhushan Pandit Birju Ma haraj. Mayookh entered the music in dustry very early and was a recording studio musicians at age 12. He has played with various artistes of global repute, in cluding Ustad Vilayat Khan, Ustad Am jadAli Khan, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Pan dit Jasraj, Pandit V.G. Jog, Pandit Mani Lai Nag, Usted Sajjid Hussain, Pandit Ramesh Mishra, Tarun Bhattacharya, Ni ladri Kumar, Michael Castaldo, Rahat Ali Khan, Ustad Farukh Fateh Ali Khan, Jean Michel Pile and Ustad Sabir Khan. Currently managed as a recording artist by Jon Woxman Associates, he’s a nominated associate of the Grammy Awards Committee (National Acade my of Recording Arts and Sciences) the youngest Asian on the board to date. He is featured on more than 15 re leased and internationally marketed al bums, including his solo album “The Be ginning,” on Gathani Records and also with Pandit V. G. Jog, Smt.Purnima Chaudhari, Ustad Sabir Kahn and Pan dit Ramesh Mishra: He has also worked on Aims and ad music as a composer for both India and the United States. Tickets for the show are $15 for adults and $ 10 for students with ID. For more information on the concert call 749-0762 or e-mail Tusharjee@hot mail.com