Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #807916 in Books
• Published on: 1996-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781566890403
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From Publishers Weekly
Despite some pointed descriptions, most of Galang's debut short-story collection is marred by flat endings and characters almost entirely lacking in self-knowledge. This is particularly unfortunate in stories about self-discovery, such as "Rose Colored," in which the well-balanced Rose compares her life to her go-go dancing cousin; the title story, about the adolescent Augustina and her budding sexual relationship with her cousin; and "Figures," in which Ana, who paints voluptuous nudes, marries a man whose stability is at first appealing but who becomes vaguely grating. The most provocative work here is "Filming Sausage," a diary-like account of escalating sexual harassment on the set of a breakfast-meat commercial, but it too ends with a whimper as the victim switches from a moment-by-moment second-person account to a sort of summing up in the final paragraphs. Marking the beginning, middle and end are three short pieces, which are more political commentary on the position of Asian and Asian-American women than stories. Like in the head-on rant on stereotypes in "The Look-Alike Women" ("Because you are all exotic. Sensual and mysterious as red silk kimonos. Passionate like volcanoes, Mount Fuji and Pinatubo. Sexy like the girls who danced in clubs along Oolangapo. Fierce like Miss Saigon"), they are direct and forcefully worded giving some taste of what Galang might yet achieve in her longer stories.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA-In a series of autobiographical essays, Galang presents a vivid picture of the present-day life of a young Filipino-American woman. Her everyday encounters with American society are tempered by the cultural richness retained from her ancestral country. The value and importance of family, community, and religion shine within each story while the role of ethnic foods, clothing, and living style weaves its way throughout each selection. This collection is especially appealing to readers who are interested in other cultures or their assimilation in American society or who are looking for materials about Filipino Americans. The stories read quickly and each subtly contrasts life in America with that of life in the Philippines. An interesting collection of stories about an Asian minority in America that is rarely depicted in literature.
Dottie Kraft, formerly at Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Debut collection of 12 consummately crafted but somewhat lifeless stories exploring the Filipina-American experience. These pieces by American-born Galang, some of which have appeared in magazines like Amerasia Journal, New Voices, and Quarterly West, offer insight into an immigrant group overshadowed by more familiar Asian immigrants, though their native land's relationship with the US has been long and close. The contrast between the long-held admiration for things American and the actual cost of living the American dream is a recurring theme here. In ``Rose Colored,'' a visit to a dancer cousin, Mina, who has embraced her immigrant heritage, suggests to successful banker Rose that she may have tried too hard to escape her own past. In ``Talk to Me, Milagros'' and ``Our Fathers,'' respectively, Nelda, a young Filipina-American, at first envies Milagros, the daughter of recently arrived immigrants, then witnesses Milagros's hurt as her father, an attorney in the Philippines, tries to adjust to being a busboy in the US; and a young girl watches as death disrupts her father's long struggle to bring his parents to America. Other tales explore the additional tensions of being female in families that still honor old country ways and ideals. In the title story, ``wild'' Mona is told the cautionary tale of her unmarried aunt Augustina, who was sent back to the Philippines pregnant. In two others, a woman is distressed to observe her brother turning her niece into a traditional Filipina woman (``Miss Teenage Sampaguita''); and a single woman faces family hostility when she returns home pregnant to visit her dying mother (``Contravida''). In another notable piece, ``Filming Sausage,'' the protagonist, in charge of a film's continuity, is harassed by the director for being both female and Asian. A welcome addition to the Filipina-American corpus, though no story here, despite Galang's best intentions, ever quite captures that long lingering sense of difference and dissonance that is so much the immigrant experience. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

A Good Reading
This debut collection of short stories from a Fil-Am woman writer was a joy to read. Although some stories were not as well-developed as others, I enjoyed them for the different characters who struggled with the same issues--identity, language, their place in the world, etc.

The most memorable stories for me were the same story she used for the title of the collection, and "Baby Lust". I found "Her Wild American Self" and the character Augustina to be very poignant and tragic--what does this particular story say about the woman's feelings, passions, and her choices? The second story I found myself being drawn to because it is so deeply troubling and disturbing. The images Ms. Galang portrays of the (I believe psychotic, but what woman wouldn't be after a miscarriage?) woman and her desire for cups of soup with little shrimp floating in it is very dramatic, and I found myself shuddering in revulsion.

Certainly some stories could be improved upon, but this debut collection shows a strong emerging voice of a woman writer from the APA community.

Her Wild American Self
Finally! A book that covers the duality of living within two vastly different cultures, AND being female. Galang's characters are strong and their dialogue honest. The best of the bunch is "Lessons on How You Never Lived Back Home," which is a self-reflection of a Filipina-American coming to terms with her identity, and the difficulties in accepting completely and equally her two homes -- The Philippines and the U.S. Anyone who's been caught in between two separate "worlds" can relate to the truthfulness and poignancy of Galang's stories

A wonderful book -- resonates with my own experiences
A delightful book. As a Filipino-American woman growing up in the midwest during the 60's and 70's, the stories in the book resonate with my own experiences. The short stories effectively and in many cases, humorously describe the pressures that many Filipino American women experience -- family obligations, women's prescribed roles, high expectations, Filipino-style classism and colonized behaviors, Filipino-American style Catholic shame, the affect of American-style racism---exotifying Asian-American women -- and our attempts to deal with it. My sisters and cousins that were raised in the Midwest also commented that they recognized, related to and enjoyed the stories. It is nice to see our own experiences reflected in American literature -- finally!