chicks review:
Mona in the Promised Land

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Mona in the Promised Land Gish Jen PB list price $13.00 Vintage Books (April 1997) ISBN: 0679776508 307 pages average review: Reviews: This gets: a from eryka: Quite good, fun. Set in the 60s, about a girl from a restrictive Chinese family trying to fit in with her new cul-cha in the largely Jewish enclave of Scarsdale, NY, no less. A good read. From the back cover: In this ebullient and inventive novel, Gish Jen restores multiculturalism from high concept to a fact of life. At least that's what it becomes for teenaged Mona Chang, who in 1968 moves with her newly prosperous family to Scarshill, New York, where the Chinese have become "the new Jews." What could be more natural than for Mona to take this literally--even to the point of converting? As Mona attends temple "rap" sessions and falls in love (with a nice Jewish boy who lives in a tepee), Jen introduces us to one of the most charming and sweet-spirited heroines in recent fiction, a girl who can wisecrack with perfect aplomb even when she's organizing the help in her father's pancake house. On every page of Mona in the Promised Land, Gish Jen sets our received notions spinning with a wit as dry as a latter-day Jane Austen's. eryka.com scale: So good you just can't stand it. Almost that good. Sort of good. Generally a waste of time. Destined for the recycler. If you'd like to review this book, or another, click here Similar books by category: women writers | asian-american fiction | american fiction Go home | Go to reviews home © 2002 eryka.com. All rights reserved.