Synopses & Reviews
If youand#8217;re Irish American or African American or Eastern European Jewish American, thereand#8217;s a rich literature to give you a sense of your familyand#8217;s arrival-in-America story. Until now, that hasnand#8217;t been the case for Chinese Americans. and#160; From noted historian Mae Ngai, The Lucky Ones uncovers the three-generational saga of the Tape family. Itand#8217;s a sweeping story centered on patriarch Jeu Dipand#8217;s (Joseph Tapeand#8217;s) self-invention as an immigration broker in postand#8211;gold rush, racially explosive San Francisco, and the extraordinary rise it enables. Ngaiand#8217;s portrayal of the Tapes as the first of a brand-new social typeand#8212;middle-class Chinese Americans, with touring cars, hunting dogs, and society weddings to broadcast itand#8212;will astonish. and#160; Again and again, Tape family history illuminates American history. Seven-year-old Mamie Tape attempts to integrate California schools, resulting in the landmark 1885 Tape v. Hurley. The familyand#8217;s intimate involvement in the 1904 St. Louis Worldand#8217;s Fair reveals how the Chinese American culture brokers essentially invented Chinatownand#8212;and so Chinese cultureand#8212;for American audiences. Finally, Mae Ngai reveals aspectsand#8212;timely, haunting, and hopefuland#8212;of the lasting legacy of the immigrant experience for all Americans.
Review
and#8220;The Lucky Ones is nothing short of a revelation. It insists that we rethink and enlarge our ideas about American immigration. The Tape family story has the texture and the range of great fiction. Mae Ngai has accomplished the admirable task of providing us with a wealth of historical material, while creating a narrative that pulls us thrillingly along in its wake.and#8221;and#160;
and#8212; Mary Gordon, author of Final Payments and Circling My Mother
and#8220;Mae Ngai tells a story we havenand#8217;t heard, and very much need. Provocative, groundbreaking, and revelatory, The Lucky Ones is a great read, to boot and#8212; as pleasurable as it is enlightening."and#160;
and#8212; Gish Jen, author of Typical American and World and Town
Synopsis
A noted historian uncovers the three-generational saga of the Tape family in a sweeping story centered on patriarch Jeu Dip's (Joseph Tape's) self-invention as an immigration broker in post-gold rush, racially explosive San Francisco, and the extraordinary rise it enables.
Synopsis
Throughand#160;captivating family saga, an award-winning historian delivers the story--provocative and thrillingly original--of one family's invention of middle-class Chinese America
About the Author
MAE NGAI's Impossible Subjects, on illegal immigration, was called "deeply stimulating" and "highly original" by the Los Angeles Times. It won the AHA Littleton-Griswold Prize for best book on American law and society, and the OAH Frederick Jackson Turner Award for best first book on any topic in American history. Ngai is a professor of history at Columbia University.