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The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts

by Maxine Hong Kingston

The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts Cover

Awards

1976 National Book Critics Award for best work of nonfiction

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

A Chinese American woman tells of the Chinese myths, family stories and events of her California childhood that have shaped her identity.

Review:

"A remarkable book....[I]t is anti-nostalgic; it burns the fat right out of the mind. As a dream — of the 'female avenger' — it is dizzying, elemental, a poem turned into a sword." The New York Times

Review:

"Intense, fierce and disturbing...a strange, sometimes savagely terrifying and, in the literal sense, wonderful story." Washington Post

Review:

"A book of fierce clarity and originality." Newsweek

Review:

"Triumphant...astonishingly accomplished." Time

About the Author

Maxine Hong Kingston is the daughter of Chinese immigrants who operated a gambling house in the 1940s, when Maxine was born, and then a laundry where Kingston and her brothers and sisters toiled long hours. Kingston graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1962 from the University of California at Berkeley, and, in the same year, married actor Earll Kingston, whom she had met in an English course. The couple has one son, Joseph, who was born in 1963. They were active in antiwar activities in Berkeley, but in 1967 the Kingstons headed for Japan to escape the increasing violence and drugs of the antiwar movement. They settled instead in Hawai‘i, where Kingston took various teaching posts. They returned to California seventeen years later, and Kingston resumed teaching writing at the University of California, Berkeley.

While in Hawai‘i, Kingston wrote her first two books. The Woman Warrior, her first book, was published in 1976 and won the National Book Critics Circle Award, making her a literary celebrity at age thirty-six. Her second book, China Men, earned the National Book Award. Still today, both books are widely taught in literature and other classes. Kingston has earned additional awards, including the PEN West Award for Fiction for Tripmaster Monkey, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, and the National Humanities Medal, which was conferred by President Clinton, as well as the title “Living Treasure of Hawai‘i” bestowed by a Honolulu Buddhist church. Her most recent books include a collection of essays, Hawaii One Summer, and latest novel, The Fifth Book of Peace. Kingston is currently Senior Lecturer Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
XtomJames, October 12, 2008 (view all comments by XtomJames)
This book is a fantastic self reflection that is sure to get anyone to think about their own past. It gives a great insight to the personal experiences Maxine Hong Kingston experienced growing up an American Chinese girl. It also gives a strong sense of the problems, racism, and traditionalism that exists with in the Chinese Culture as well as the good.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780679721888
Subtitle:
Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts
Author:
Kingston, Maxine Hong
Publisher:
Vintage Books USA
Location:
New York :
Subject:
Biography
Subject:
Women's Studies
Subject:
United states
Subject:
Minority Studies - Ethnic American
Subject:
Ethnic Cultures
Subject:
Chinese americans
Subject:
Chinese Americans -- Biography.
Subject:
Women's Studies - General
Subject:
Ethnic Cultures - General
Subject:
Authors, American
Subject:
History
Subject:
Family
Subject:
California
Subject:
Authors, American -- 20th century.
Copyright:
Edition Number:
Reissue ed.
Edition Description:
Vintage International ed.
Series Volume:
v. 3
Publication Date:
April 1989
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Yes
Pages:
224
Dimensions:
7.96x5.22x.60 in. .52 lbs.

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