TYPICAL AMERICAN
by Gish Jen
published by NAL. 1992. ISBN 0-452-26774-9. pap. $13.95; LJ 2/1/91, Nancy PearlReview by Library Journal, Sept 15, 2000 v125 i15 p144
COPYRIGHT 2000 Cahners Business InformationTYPICAL AMERICAN by Gish Jen tells the story of Ralph Chang, who comes to America from China to study engineering, of his older sister Theresa, and of the woman Ralph marries, Helen. As the three get involved in their American lives (marriage, business, children, a move to the suburbs of New York), they try to understand their place in the American dream and just what it means to be a "typical American." Mona in the Promised Land (LJ 3/15/96), Jen's second novel, is something of a sequel, featuring Ralph and Helen's daughter Mona.
