Racial Asymmetries: Asian American Fictional Worlds

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments Let me begin with my deepest apologies for any oversights or omissions. My journey into the labyrinthine world of Asian American literature was initiated by Shirley Geok-lin Lim; this book could not have been possible without her tireless mentorship and her galvanizing presence. Gavin Jones, Michele Elam, Andrea Lunsford, and Paul Robinson were patient enough to read through the complete manuscript and to offer incisive critiques; they became what I might call the perfect postgraduate school “first book committee.” In the early and formative stages, I was lucky enough to be a part of an amazing writing group with Juliana Chang and Celine Parreñas Shimizu, who gave me the courage to go down this manuscript path. I look forward to many more years of collaborating with you both. I also could not have survived book writing without the occasional study hour and intellectual companionship offered by Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano. To the winners—Jennifer Ann Ho, Betsy Huang, Paul Lai, and Sue J. Kim—your generosity and kindness always inspire me and humble me. Glen Mimura: thank you so much for your mentorship during my postdoctoral period. Other colleagues and friends have generously given their time and support by reading, commenting, and advising me on chapter drafts; these include Ramón Saldívar, erin Khuê Ninh, Stewart Chang, Jerry Miller, Aimee Bahng, Jean Kim, Sau-Ling C. Wong, John Bender, Nancy Ruttenburg, John Peterson, Melissa Colleen Stevenson, Donald C. Goellnicht, Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Yanoula K. Athanassakis, Jeanne Sokolowski, and Anne Anlin Cheng. I give thanks to the faculty of viii / acknowledgments Stanford’s English Department, who have been so welcoming and collegial , especially Arnold Rampersad, Ken Fields, Eavan Boland, Jennifer Summit, Paula Moya, Ursula Heise, Patricia Parker, Judy Richardson, Alice Stavely, Roland Greene, Franco Moretti, Claire Jarvis, Vaughn Rasberry, Peggy Phelan, Sianne Ngai, Mark McGurl, Michelle Karnes, Adam Johnson, Hannah Sullivan, Blair Hoxby, Toby Wolff, Roland Greene, Nick Jenkins, Franco Moretti, Hilton Obenzinger, Shimon Tanaka, Saikat Majumdar, Subhasree Chakravarty, Chris Rovee, Alex Woloch, Denise Gigante, Shimon Tanaka, Blakey Vermeule, Terry Castle , and Helen Brooks. Elizabeth Tallent: thank you for the pleasure of tea time. Stephen Orgel: thank you for the generosity of your friendship. Across the campus, I am grateful for the presence of the many who have supported my teaching and research: Russell Berman, Harry Elam, Gordon Chang, David Palumbo-Liu, Heather Hadlock, Helen Stacy, Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, and James Sheehan. The anonymous reviewers during my fourth-year review were also incredibly helpful in improving the quality of this manuscript. There has been a large community of scholars, writers, and others who have read and helped to advance my work: Michael Benveniste, Alexander Chee, Tina Chen, Floyd Cheung, Cheng Lok Chua, Kandice Chuh, Hyeyurn Chung, Martha Cutter, Robert G. Diaz, Enda Duffy, Diane C. Fujino, Dorothy Fujita-Rony, Catherine Fung, Geneva M. Gano, Donald C. Goellnicht, Christine Hong, Terry Hong, Hsuan L. Hsu, Linh Hua, Adria L. Imada, Allan Punzalan Isaac, Wen Jin, Laura Hyun Yi Kang, Claire Jean Kim, Elaine H. Kim, Ju-Yon Kim, Seong-Kon Kim, James Kyung-jin Lee, So-Hee Lee, George Lipsitz, Catherine Liu, Colleen Lye, Anita Mannur, Victor Roman Mendoza, Marshall Moore, Venus Nasri, Greta Ai-yu Niu, Susie Pak, Jane Chi Hyun Park, Josephine Nock-Hee Park, Sarah Park Dahlen, Jeffrey L. Partridge, Arlene Phillips , Martin Joseph Ponce, David Roman, Jeffrey J. Santa Ana, Cathy Schlund-Vials, Lindsey Smith, Min Song, Fatimah Tobing-Rony, Elda Tsou, Linda Trinh Vo, Karen Tei Yamashita, Caroline H. Yang, Timothy Yu, and Xiaojian Zhao. I must also acknowledge the writers who were so kind as to respond to my queries during the writing of this book and to whom many of these chapters are devoted: Jessica Hagedorn, Tony D’Souza, Sigrid Nunez, Sabina Murray, Chang-rae Lee, Sesshu Foster, Brian Ascalon Roley, Bhira Backhaus, Claire Light, and Ted Chiang. I have benefited immensely from my interactions and discussions with both undergraduate and graduate students at Stanford University. I take time to mention the handful who went on to work with me in more acknowledgments / ix extensive capacities, completing research projects or working with me in instructional capacities: Raechel Lee, Vanessa Seals, Steffi Dippold, Lupe Carrillo, Justin St. Germain, Kathryn Van Arendonk, Vanessa Chang, Vida Mia Garcia, James Matthew Estrella, Michelle Rhee-Weise, Karli June Cerankowski, Allen Frost, Long Le-Khac, Stephanie Otani-Sunamoto , Johaina Crisostomo, Kathryn Marie Frank, Emma Clare Trotter...