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Title: Fodder for those who crave sanitized Eastern Mysticism
Review: How true it is, when Jesus notes that the prophet is often rejected in his own hometown. However, sometimes this happens, not without good reason. As an Asian male raised in the Far East, I can assure you that my traditional Chinese grandparents did not speak in vague metaphors about "tigers waiting in the trees", which is, at best, laughable. The Asian male bashing is as unsubtle as one gets as Tan attempts to portray the downtrodden Asian females in a patriachal society (which it admittedly was) without anything positive to say about men in that context. This book does a fair amount of harm by perpetuating stereotypes about Chinese culture. Perhaps the only redeeming factor is the clever use of juxtaposition of the stories of the mothers and daughters to form a comprehensible whole.The Washington Post claims this book is "Powerful as Myth". I'd have to agree.
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