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Chang-Rae Lee Chang-Rae Lee: Literary Hero or Exploiter?

o Asian American male has ever enjoyed the kind of approval lavished on Chang-Rae Lee by the American literary establishment.

     But then no American novelist has ever loaded such mind-blowing guilt trips on his Asian male protagonists. Naturally even those AA readers who amply appreciate Lee's luminous, high-bandwidth prose come to wonder if there isn't some connection between the accolades and the deplorable moral profile of Lee's AM characters.

     In his first novel Native Speaker (Riverhead 1995) the narrator is Corean American Henry Park who has built a career with a shadowy private multinational intelligence firm by spying on notable Asians. This creepy professional life jeopardizes Park's marriage to a WASP princess, alienates him from society at large and, on some metaphysical plane, brings about the death of his young son. Park's no stereotypical Asian male in the conventional sense, but he does evoke not so subtley the stereotypical suspicion that Asian men are given to sneakiness, double-allegiance and profound social alienation. The effort earned Lee the PEN/Hemingway Award and the American Book Award, not to mention the prestigious job of director of the MFA program at CUNY's Hunter College.

     Lee's second novel A Gesture Life (1999) ups the angst ante. Turns out elderly narrator Franklin Hata had been, in a dim distant past, an officer in the Japanese Imperial Army who played a role in the deaths of two young Corean comfort women. The man's not exactly a monster but the skeletons in his closet aren't of the wholesome all-American variety either. The moral burden of Hata's past keeps him from cementing a promising relationship with an eligible widow -- not to mention developing a normal relationship with his adoptive daughter. AA readers might be excused for being flabbergasted at the sheer randomness of saddling the protagonist of an AA novel with the guilt of WWII sex slaves. The novel elicited high praise from the NY Times's Michiko Kakutani and won Lee a secure place among America's most promising young writers.

     The protagonists of both novels find redemption -- or at least the hope thereof. But the bleakness of their predicaments hardly advance the Asian American male quest for recognition as feeling, well-adjusted human beings. Instead, Lee's novels seem to confirm that, hell, yes, there are good reasons why Asian men can never fit comfortably into American life.

     That dark view finds little support in the outlines of Lee's own life.

     Chang-Rae Lee was born in Seoul, Corea on July 29, 1965. His family emigrated when he was either two or three, depending on source. He grew up in Westchester, New York and attended New Hampshire's elite Phillips Exeter Academy. He graduated Yale with an English B.A., then went to the University of Oregon for a masters in creative writing. A year as a Wall Street analyst convinced Lee to commit to a full-time writing career. In addition to his two novels, Lee has published stories and articles in The New Yorker, The New York Times and Granta magazine. He now lives in New Jersey with his wife and daughter.

  &nb Does Chang-Rae Lee's literary success expand possibilities for Asian American men? Or is he merely exploiting and reinforcing existing stereotypes?

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[This page is closed to new input. Vote and continue this and related discussions at the new Interactive Area. --Ed.]
Excerpt from Associated Press 4/15/02:

TRENTON, New Jersey (AP) -- Princeton University announced its second high-profile appointment in two days, adding award-winning Korean-American author Chang-rae Lee to its faculty Saturday.

The board of trustees appointed Lee to Princeton's Humanities Council and creative writing program.

Lee, 36, joins acclaimed authors including Toni Morrison and Joyce Carol Oates at Princeton.

Professor Paul Muldoon, director of the creative writing program, described Lee as "a great writer, a great teacher and, as luck would have it, a great person."

"The program has been arguably the best in the country, "Muldoon said in a prepared statement. "With the arrival of Chang-rae Lee, it is unarguably the best in the country."

Chang-rae Lee is finishing his third novel, which could be out early next year.

AM writer
   Thursday, April 25, 2002 at 22:33:57 (PDT)
Several cities across the United States have adopted the "one book, one city" program that encourages all citizens to read the same book. Seattle citizens read Russell Banks' "The Sweet Hereafter," and the program was such a success that other cities around the country began to emulate Nancy Pearl's idea (the originator of the "one book, one city" program). Even two entire states participated: Californians read John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" to celebrate the author's centennial, and Virginians read William Styron's "Sophie's Choice."

According to The New York Times, the goal is to "to find one book that is as multicultural as possible, accessible without being too familiar, and that, ultimately, teaches the important lessons about learning to get along with each other in a big, crowded, diverse city."

The organizers have narrowed it down to four books: "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee; "The Color of Water" by James McBride; "Ragtime" by E. L. Doctorow; and "Report from Engine Co. 82" by Dennis Smith.

It was announced in February 2002 that New Yorkers would read Chang-rae Lee's "Native Speaker," a contemporary novel about Henry Park, a second-generation Korean American private spy who investigates a corrupt Korean American politician.

AM writer
   Thursday, April 25, 2002 at 22:28:17 (PDT)


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CR Lee needs to write more about adoption. And how about some goofy, fun-loving public performances? Lee is the man who can bring the light-hearted, giggling, garlic-simmering AA Male to the fore. Most importantly, I want to see angst-ridden adoptees glamourized, please. Thanks.
Dam Sell Plum
vermillion12000@yahoo.com    Friday, April 12, 2002 at 10:51:53 (PDT)
Naki,

Thanks, I figured very few people would read those long posts. I am glad someone did.
An Avid Reader
   Wednesday, January 16, 2002 at 12:43:03 (PST)
To An Avid Reader: your posts were amazingly clear, thoughtful, and accurate. I think that the reason some people just don't get it (what AM's are subjected to by the media) is that they are not the targets and so do not notice the slams. When it's your dick that's being slammed in the door, you tend to notice. I agree with you that the situation for our children will not improve quickly enough unless we become more vocal and start calling these pricks for the racists that they are. Not one of the Asian bashers in the media would dare do the same to African Americans or Jews. There are reasons for that and it's about time Asian Americans started figuring them out and utilizing the same actions. Your posts contain much good advice to that end. Cudos!
Naki
   Sunday, January 13, 2002 at 19:53:49 (PST)

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