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| the accidental asian sparknotes: The Accidental Asian Eric Liu, 2007-12-18 Beyond black and white, native and alien, lies a vast and fertile field of human experience. It is here that Eric Liu, former speechwriter for President Clinton and noted political commentator, invites us to explore. In these compellingly candid essays, Liu reflects on his life as a second-generation Chinese American and reveals the shifting frames of ethnic identity. Finding himself unable to read a Chinese memorial book about his father's life, he looks critically at the cost of his own assimilation. But he casts an equally questioning eye on the effort to sustain vast racial categories like “Asian American.” And as he surveys the rising anxiety about China's influence, Liu illuminates the space that Asians have always occupied in the American imagination. Reminiscent of the work of James Baldwin and its unwavering honesty, The Accidental Asian introduces a powerful and elegant voice into the discussion of what it means to be an American. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Under Red Skies Karoline Kan, 2019-03-12 A deeply personal and shocking look at how China is coming to terms with its conflicted past as it emerges into a modern, cutting-edge superpower. Through the stories of three generations of women in her family, Karoline Kan, a former New York Times reporter based in Beijing, reveals how they navigated their way in a country beset by poverty and often-violent political unrest. As the Kans move from quiet villages to crowded towns and through the urban streets of Beijing in search of a better way of life, they are forced to confront the past and break the chains of tradition, especially those forced on women. Raw and revealing, Karoline Kan offers gripping tales of her grandmother, who struggled to make a way for her family during the Great Famine; of her mother, who defied the One-Child Policy by giving birth to Karoline; of her cousin, a shoe factory worker scraping by on 6 yuan (88 cents) per hour; and of herself, as an ambitious millennial striving to find a job--and true love--during a time rife with bewildering social change. Under Red Skies is an engaging eyewitness account and Karoline's quest to understand the rapidly evolving, shifting sands of China. It is the first English-language memoir from a Chinese millennial to be published in America, and a fascinating portrait of an otherwise-hidden world, written from the perspective of those who live there. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe, 1994-09-01 “A true classic of world literature . . . A masterpiece that has inspired generations of writers in Nigeria, across Africa, and around the world.” —Barack Obama “African literature is incomplete and unthinkable without the works of Chinua Achebe.” —Toni Morrison Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read Things Fall Apart is the first of three novels in Chinua Achebe's critically acclaimed African Trilogy. It is a classic narrative about Africa's cataclysmic encounter with Europe as it establishes a colonial presence on the continent. Told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior of Umuofia in the late 1800s, Things Fall Apart explores one man's futile resistance to the devaluing of his Igbo traditions by British political andreligious forces and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order. With more than 20 million copies sold and translated into fifty-seven languages, Things Fall Apart provides one of the most illuminating and permanent monuments to African experience. Achebe does not only capture life in a pre-colonial African village, he conveys the tragedy of the loss of that world while broadening our understanding of our contemporary realities. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: The Last Story of Mina Lee Nancy Jooyoun Kim, 2020-09-01 A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Riveting and unconventional, The Last Story of Mina Lee traces the far-reaching consequences of secrets in the lives of a Korean immigrant mother and her daughter Margot Lee's mother is ignoring her calls. Margot can’t understand why, until she makes a surprise trip home to Koreatown, LA, and finds that her mother has suspiciously died. Determined to discover the truth, Margot unravels her single mother’s past as a Korean War orphan and an undocumented immigrant, only to realize how little she truly knew about her mother, Mina. Thirty years earlier, Mina Lee steps off a plane to take a chance on a new life in America. Stacking shelves at a Korean grocery store, the last thing she expects is to fall in love. But that moment leads to repercussions for Mina that echo through the decades, leading up to the truth of what happened the night of her death. Told through the intimate lens of a mother and daughter who have struggled all their lives to understand each other, The Last Story of Mina Lee is a powerful and exquisitely woven debut novel that explores identity, family, secrets, and what it truly means to belong. “Painful, joyous... A story that cries out to be told.” —Los Angeles Times “Kim is a brilliant new voice in American fiction.” —Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel “Suspenseful and deeply felt.” —Chloe Benjamin, author of The Immortalists |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Accidental Heroes Danielle Steel, 2018-03-20 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A decorated former Air Force pilot. A pregnant flight attendant. A dedicated TSA agent. The fates of these three, and many others, converge in Danielle Steel’s gripping new novel—a heart-stopping thriller that engages ordinary men and women in the fight of their lives during a flight from New York to San Francisco. On a beautiful May morning at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport, two planes have just departed for San Francisco—one a 757, another a smaller Airbus A321. At a security checkpoint, TSA agent Bernice Adams finds a postcard of the Golden Gate Bridge bearing an ambiguous—perhaps ominous—message. Her supervisor dismisses her concerns, but Bernice calls security and soon Ben Waterman arrives. A senior Homeland Security agent, still grappling with guilt after a disastrous operation in which hostages were killed, Ben too becomes suspicious. Who left the postcard behind, which flight is that person on, and what exactly does the message mean? As Ben scans the passenger manifests, his focus turns to the A321, with Helen Smith as its senior pilot. Helen’s military service and her tenure with the airline have been exemplary. But her husband’s savage death in Iraq was more than anyone should bear, leaving her widowed with three children. A major film star is on board. So is an off-duty pilot who has just lost his forty-year career. So is a distraught father, traveling with the baby son he has abducted from his estranged wife. Sifting through data and relying on instinct, Ben becomes convinced that someone on Helen’s plane is planning something terrible. And he’s right. Passengers, crew, and experts on the ground become heroes out of necessity to try to avert tragedy at the eleventh hour. In her stunning novel, Danielle Steel combines intense action with stories of emotionally rich, intertwined lives. As the jet bears down on its destination of San Francisco, strangers are united, desperate choices are made, and futures will be changed forever by a handful of accidental heroes. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Class Clowns Jonathan A. Knee, 2016-11-29 The past thirty years have seen dozens of otherwise successful investors try to improve education through the application of market principles. They have funneled billions of dollars into alternative schools, online education, and textbook publishing, and they have, with surprising regularity, lost their shirts. In Class Clowns, professor and investment banker Jonathan A. Knee dissects what drives investors' efforts to improve education and why they consistently fail. Knee takes readers inside four spectacular financial failures in education: Rupert Murdoch's billion-dollar effort to reshape elementary education through technology; the unhappy investors—including hedge fund titan John Paulson—who lost billions in textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin; the abandonment of Knowledge Universe, Michael Milken's twenty-year mission to revolutionize the global education industry; and a look at Chris Whittle, founder of EdisonLearning and a pioneer of large-scale transformational educational ventures, who continues to attract investment despite decades of financial and operational disappointment. Although deep belief in the curative powers of the market drove these initiatives, it was the investors' failure to appreciate market structure that doomed them. Knee asks: What makes a good education business? By contrasting rare successes, he finds a dozen broad lessons at the heart of these cautionary case studies. Class Clowns offers an important guide for public policy makers and guardrails for future investors, as well as an intelligent exposé for activists and teachers frustrated with the repeated underperformance of these attempts to shake up education. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: The Accidental City Lawrence N. Powell, 2013-10-14 This is the story of a city that shouldn't exist. In the seventeenth century, what is now America's most beguiling metropolis was nothing more than a swamp: prone to flooding, infested with snakes, battered by hurricanes. But through the intense imperial rivalries of Spain, France, and England, and the ambitious, entrepreneurial merchants and settlers from four continents who risked their lives to succeed in colonial America, this unpromising site became a crossroads for the whole Atlantic world. Lawrence N. Powell, a decades-long resident and observer of New Orleans, gives us the full sweep of the city's history from its founding through Louisiana statehood in 1812. We see the Crescent City evolve from a French village, to an African market town, to a Spanish fortress, and finally to an Anglo-American center of trade and commerce. We hear and feel the mix of peoples, religions, and languages from four continents that make the place electric-and always on the verge of unraveling. The Accidental City is the story of land-jobbing schemes, stock market crashes, and nonstop squabbles over status, power, and position, with enough rogues, smugglers, and self-fashioners to fill a picaresque novel. Powell's tale underscores the fluidity and contingency of the past, revealing a place where people made their own history. This is a city, and a history, marked by challenges and perpetual shifts in shape and direction, like the sinuous river on which it is perched. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: The Membranes Chi Ta-wei, 2021-06-01 It is the late twenty-first century, and Momo is the most celebrated dermal care technician in all of T City. Humanity has migrated to domes at the bottom of the sea to escape devastating climate change. The world is dominated by powerful media conglomerates and runs on exploited cyborg labor. Momo prefers to keep to herself, and anyway she’s too busy for other relationships: her clients include some of the city’s best-known media personalities. But after meeting her estranged mother, she begins to explore her true identity, a journey that leads to questioning the bounds of gender, memory, self, and reality. First published in Taiwan in 1995, The Membranes is a classic of queer speculative fiction in Chinese. Chi Ta-wei weaves dystopian tropes—heirloom animals, radiation-proof combat drones, sinister surveillance technologies—into a sensitive portrait of one young woman’s quest for self-understanding. Predicting everything from fitness tracking to social media saturation, this visionary and sublime novel stands out for its queer and trans themes. The Membranes reveals the diversity and originality of contemporary speculative fiction in Chinese, exploring gender and sexuality, technological domination, and regimes of capital, all while applying an unflinching self-reflexivity to the reader’s own role. Ari Larissa Heinrich’s translation brings Chi’s hybrid punk sensibility to all readers interested in books that test the limits of where speculative fiction can go. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Third and Indiana Steve Lopez, 1995-10-01 In the Philadelphia neighborhood known as the Badlands, drug gangs rule absolutely. Each time a life is lost in the carnage of the local drug wars, a boldly drawn chalk outline of a body appears on the street leading up to City hall: a teenaged dealer, a priest, a little girl with a jump rope. Ofelia Santoro rides her bicycle through the dark, decaying streets, looking for her fourteen-year-old-son, Gabriel. She’s afraid of what she might find. Gabriel has fallen in with the most savage of the drug dealers, but now wants to get out—if he can. In this gritty, fast-moving novel, acclaimed Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Steve Lopez brings home the violence that is scarring America’s vast urban wastelands, and the humanity that might save them. “An unfancy prose is streaked by strong, cinematic images . . . Lopez aims to prick consciences, in the tradition of the documentary novelist, and he does so with considerable style.”—The Daily Telegraph “Lopez has done what Balzac, Dickens . . . and Dostoevsky did so masterfully: he has taken a torch to the back of the cave and returned to tell us what he has seen.” –Pete Hamill, The Philadelphia Inquirer |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry, 2010-10-29 A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry’s stunning internationally acclaimed bestseller, is set in mid-1970s India. It tells the story of four unlikely people whose lives come together during a time of political turmoil soon after the government declares a “State of Internal Emergency.” Through days of bleakness and hope, their circumstances – and their fates – become inextricably linked in ways no one could have foreseen. Mistry’s prose is alive with enduring images and a cast of unforgettable characters. Written with compassion, humour, and insight, A Fine Balance is a vivid, richly textured, and powerful novel written by one of the most gifted writers of our time. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Damselfly Chandra Prasad, 2018 Indian-American teenager Samantha Mishra, her best friend Mel Sharpe, and the other members of the Drake Rosemont Academy fencing team are on their way to Tokyo when their plane crashes on a jungle-choked island, so while they hope for rescue, the teens will need to use all their ingenuity to survive the jungle, the old man who is stalking them--and each other. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: The Son of Good Fortune Lysley Tenorio, 2020-07-07 A Recommended Book From: USA Today * The Chicago Tribune * Book Riot * Refinery 29 * InStyle * The Minneapolis Star-Tribune * Publishers Weekly * Baltimore Outloud * Omnivoracious * Lambda Literary * Goodreads * Lit Hub * The Millions FINALIST FOR THE JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE WINNER OF THE NEW AMERICAN VOICES AWARD From award-winning author Lysley Tenorio, comes a big hearted debut novel following an undocumented Filipino son as he navigates his relationship with his mother, an uncertain future, and the place he calls home Excel spends his days trying to seem like an unremarkable American teenager. When he’s not working at The Pie Who Loved Me (a spy-themed pizza shop) or passing the time with his girlfriend Sab (occasionally in one of their town’s seventeen cemeteries), he carefully avoids the spotlight. But Excel knows that his family is far from normal. His mother, Maxima, was once a Filipina B-movie action star who now makes her living scamming men online. The old man they live with is not his grandfather, but Maxima’s lifelong martial arts trainer. And years ago, on Excel’s tenth birthday, Maxima revealed a secret that he must keep forever. “We are ‘TNT’—tago ng tago,” she told him, “hiding and hiding.” Excel is undocumented—and one accidental slip could uproot his entire life. Casting aside the paranoia and secrecy of his childhood, Excel takes a leap, joining Sab on a journey south to a ramshackle desert town called Hello City. Populated by drifters, old hippies, and washed-up techies—and existing outside the normal constructs of American society—Hello City offers Excel a chance to forge his own path for the first time. But after so many years of trying to be invisible, who does he want to become? And is it possible to put down roots in a country that has always considered you an outsider? Thrumming with energy and at once critical and hopeful, The Son of Good Fortune is a luminous story of a mother and son testing the strength of their bond to their country—and to each other. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Crossing the Line Kareem Rosser, 2022-02 Born and raised in West Philadelphia, Kareem thought he and his siblings would always be stuck in 'The Bottom', a community and neighborhood devastated by poverty and violence. Riding their bicycles through Philly's Fairmount Park, Kareem's brothers discover a barn full of horses-- |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Exhalation Ted Chiang, 2019-05-07 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • Nine stunningly original, provocative, and poignant stories—two published for the very first time—all from the mind of the incomparable author of Stories of Your Life and Others Tackling some of humanity’s oldest questions along with new quandaries only he could imagine, these stories will change the way you think, feel, and see the world. They are Ted Chiang at his best: profound, sympathetic, revelatory. Ted Chiang tackles some of humanity’s oldest questions along with new quandaries only he could imagine. In “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate,” a portal through time forces a fabric seller in ancient Baghdad to grapple with past mistakes and second chances. In “Exhalation,” an alien scientist makes a shocking discovery with ramifications that are literally universal. In “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom,” the ability to glimpse into alternate universes necessitates a radically new examination of the concepts of choice and free will. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: James Clavell's Whirlwind James Clavell, 2014-12 |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: When the Emperor Was Divine Julie Otsuka, 2003-10-14 From the bestselling, award-winning author of The Buddha in the Attic and The Swimmers, this commanding debut novel paints a portrait of the Japanese American incarceration camps that is both a haunting evocation of a family in wartime and a resonant lesson for our times. On a sunny day in Berkeley, California, in 1942, a woman sees a sign in a post office window, returns to her home, and matter-of-factly begins to pack her family's possessions. Like thousands of other Japanese Americans they have been reclassified, virtually overnight, as enemy aliens and are about to be uprooted from their home and sent to a dusty incarceration camp in the Utah desert. In this lean and devastatingly evocative first novel, Julie Otsuka tells their story from five flawlessly realized points of view and conveys the exact emotional texture of their experience: the thin-walled barracks and barbed-wire fences, the omnipresent fear and loneliness, the unheralded feats of heroism. When the Emperor Was Divine is a work of enormous power that makes a shameful episode of our history as immediate as today's headlines. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Junkyard Dogs Craig Johnson, 2010-05-27 From the New York Times bestselling author of Land of Wolves, a modern-day ranch war takes place in the sixth Longmire novel Junkyard Dogs, the sixth installment in the New York Times bestselling Longmire Mystery Series, the basis for LONGMIRE, the hit Netflix original drama series, takes us to Durant, Wyoming. It's a volatile new economy in Durant when the owners of a multimillion-dollar development of ranchettes want to get rid of the adjacent Stewart junkyard. Meeting the notorious Stewart clan is an adventure unto itself, and when conflict erupts—and someone ends up dead—Sheriff Walt Longmire, his lifelong friend Henry Standing Bear, and deputies Santiago Saizarbitoria and Victoria Moretti find themselves in a small town that feels more and more like a high-plains pressure cooker. Walt Longmire is up to his badge in the darker aspects of human nature, making his way through the case with a combination of love, laughs, and derelict automobiles. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: The Reluctant Fundamentalist Mohsin Hamid, 2009-06-05 From the author of the award-winning Moth Smoke comes a perspective on love, prejudice, and the war on terror that has never been seen in North American literature. At a café table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with a suspicious, and possibly armed, American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful meeting. . . Changez is living an immigrant’s dream of America. At the top of his class at Princeton, he is snapped up by Underwood Samson, an elite firm that specializes in the “valuation” of companies ripe for acquisition. He thrives on the energy of New York and the intensity of his work, and his infatuation with regal Erica promises entrée into Manhattan society at the same exalted level once occupied by his own family back in Lahore. For a time, it seems as though nothing will stand in the way of Changez’s meteoric rise to personal and professional success. But in the wake of September 11, he finds his position in his adopted city suddenly overturned, and his budding relationship with Erica eclipsed by the reawakened ghosts of her past. And Changez’s own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and perhaps even love. Elegant and compelling, Mohsin Hamid’s second novel is a devastating exploration of our divided and yet ultimately indivisible world. “Excuse me, sir, but may I be of assistance? Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by my beard: I am a lover of America. I noticed that you were looking for something; more than looking, in fact you seemed to be on a mission, and since I am both a native of this city and a speaker of your language, I thought I might offer you my services as a bridge.” —from The Reluctant Fundamentalist |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Red Plenty Francis Spufford, 2012-02-14 Spufford cunningly maps out a literary genre of his own . . . Freewheeling and fabulous. —The Times (London) Strange as it may seem, the gray, oppressive USSR was founded on a fairy tale. It was built on the twentieth-century magic called the planned economy, which was going to gush forth an abundance of good things that the lands of capitalism could never match. And just for a little while, in the heady years of the late 1950s, the magic seemed to be working. Red Plenty is about that moment in history, and how it came, and how it went away; about the brief era when, under the rash leadership of Khrushchev, the Soviet Union looked forward to a future of rich communists and envious capitalists, when Moscow would out-glitter Manhattan and every Lada would be better engineered than a Porsche. It's about the scientists who did their genuinely brilliant best to make the dream come true, to give the tyranny its happy ending. Red Plenty is history, it's fiction, it's as ambitious as Sputnik, as uncompromising as an Aeroflot flight attendant, and as different from what you were expecting as a glass of Soviet champagne. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Call Me By My Name John Ed Bradley, 2015-05-05 From former football star and bestselling author John Ed Bradley comes a searing look at love, life, and football in the face of racial adversity. Heartbreaking, says Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Speak. Growing up in Louisiana in the late 1960s, Tater Henry has experienced a lot of prejudice. His town is slow to desegregate and slower still to leave behind deep-seated prejudice. Despite the town's sensibilities, Rodney Boulett and his twin sister Angie befriend Tater, and as their friendship grows stronger, Tater and Rodney become an unstoppable force on the football field. That is, until Rodney sees Tater and Angie growing closer, too, and Rodney's world is turned upside down. Teammates, best friends--Rodney's world is threatened by a hate he did not know was inside of him. As the town learns to accept notions like a black quarterback, some changes may be too difficult to accept. John Ed Bradley skillfully shines a beam of humanity through the prism of the game, revealing to us the full spectrum of its colors, from love to hate, bigotry to tolerance, and devotion to betrayal. Anyone who ever played high school football or loved someone who has should read this book. --Tim Green, retired NFL player and bestselling author |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: The Black Echo Michael Connelly, 2017-04-25 An LAPD homicide detective must choose between justice and vengeance as he teams up with the FBI in the first novel of the thrilling Harry Bosch series (New York Times Book Review). For maverick LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch, the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal . . . because the murdered man was a fellow Vietnam tunnel rat who had fought side by side with him in a hellish underground war. Now Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam. From a dangerous maze of blind alleys to a daring criminal heist beneath the city, his survival instincts will once again be tested to their limit. Pitted against enemies inside his own department and forced to make the agonizing choice between justice and vengeance, Bosch goes on the hunt for a killer whose true face will shock him. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Nights When Nothing Happened Simon Han, 2021-11-16 Named a Best Book of the Year by Time, The Washington Post, and Harper's Bazaar “A tender, spiky family saga about love in all its mysterious incarnations.” —Lorrie Moore, author of A Gate at the Stairs and Birds of America “Absolutely luminous . . . Weaves the transience of suburbia between the highs and lows of a family saga . . . Shocks, awes, and delights.” —Bryan Washington, author of Memorial From the outside, the Chengs seem like so-called model immigrants. Once Patty landed a tech job near Dallas, she and Liang grew secure enough to have a second child, and to send for their first from his grandparents back in China. Isn’t this what they sacrificed so much for? But then little Annabel begins to sleepwalk at night, putting into motion a string of misunderstandings that not only threaten to set their community against them but force to the surface the secrets that have made them fear one another. How can a man make peace with the terrors of his past? How can a child regain trust in unconditional love? How can a family stop burying its history and forge a way through it, to a more honest intimacy? Nights When Nothing Happened is gripping storytelling immersed in the crosscurrents that have reshaped the American landscape, from a prodigious new literary talent. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Ken Liu, 2016-03-08 Presents the author's selection of his best short stories, as well as a new piece, in a collection that includes The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary, Mono No Aware and The Waves. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: The Sense of an Ending Julian Barnes, 2011-10-05 BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A novel that follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he never much thought about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single setting, The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning achievement in Julian Barnes's oeuvre. Tony Webster thought he left his past behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Spirit of Steamboat Craig Johnson, 2014-10-22 A Christmas novella for fans of the hit drama series LONGMIRE now on Netflix and the New York Times–bestselling series. Craig Johnson's new novel, The Western Star, will be available from Viking in Fall 2017. Sheriff Walt Longmire is in his office reading A Christmas Carol when he is interrupted by a ghost of Christmas past: a young woman with a hairline scar and more than a few questions about his predecessor, Lucian Connally. With his daughter Cady and undersherrif Moretti otherwise engaged, Walt’s on his own this Christmas Eve, so he agrees to help her. At the Durant Home for Assisted Living, Lucian is several tumblers into his Pappy Van Winkle’s and swears he’s never clapped eyes on the woman before. Disappointed, she whispers “Steamboat” and begins a story that takes them all back to Christmas Eve 1988—a story that will thrill and delight the bestselling series’ devoted fans. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: It's Complicated Danah Boyd, 2014-02-25 A youth and technology expert offers original research on teens’ use of social media, the myths frightening adults, and how young people form communities. What is new about how teenagers communicate through services like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? Do social media affect the quality of teens’ lives? In this book, youth culture and technology expert Danah Boyd uncovers some of the major myths regarding teens’ use of social media. She explores tropes about identity, privacy, safety, danger, and bullying. Ultimately, Boyd argues that society fails young people when paternalism and protectionism hinder teenagers’ ability to become informed, thoughtful, and engaged citizens through their online interactions. Yet despite an environment of rampant fear-mongering, Boyd finds that teens often find ways to engage and to develop a sense of identity. Boyd’s conclusions are essential reading not only for parents, teachers, and others who work with teens, but also for anyone interested in the impact of emerging technologies on society, culture, and commerce. Offering insights gleaned from more than a decade of original fieldwork interviewing teenagers across the United States, Boyd concludes reassuringly that the kids are all right. At the same time, she acknowledges that coming to terms with life in a networked era is not easy or obvious. In a technologically mediated world, life is bound to be complicated. “Boyd’s new book is layered and smart . . . It’s Complicated will update your mind.” —Alissa Quart, New York Times Book Review “A fascinating, well-researched and (mostly) reassuring look at how today's tech-savvy teenagers are using social media.” —People “The briefest possible summary? The kids are all right, but society isn’t.” —Andrew Leonard, Salon |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Brick Lane Monica Ali, 2007 Still In Her Teenage Years, Nazneen Finds Herself In An Arranged Marriage With A Disappointed Man Who Is Twenty Years Older. Away From The Mud And Heat Of Her Bangladeshi Village, Home Is Now A Cramped Flat In A High-Rise Block In London S East End. Nazneen Knows Not A Word Of English, And Is Forced To Depend On Her Husband. But Unlike Him She Is Practical And Wise, And Befriends A Fellow Asian Girl Razia, Who Helps Her Understand The Strange Ways Of Her Adopted New British Home. Nazneen Keeps In Touch With Her Sister Hasina Back In The Village. But The Rebellious Hasina Has Kicked Against Cultural Tradition And Run Off In A Love Marriage With The Man Of Her Dreams. When He Suddenly Turns Violent, She Is Forced Into The Degrading Job Of Garment Girl In A Cloth Factory. Confined In Her Flat By Tradition And Family Duty, Nazneen Also Sews Furiously For A Living, Shut Away With Her Buttons And Linings - Until The Radical Karim Steps Unexpectedly Into Her Life. On A Background Of Racial Conflict And Tension, They Embark On A Love Affair That Forces Nazneen Finally To Take Control Of Her Fate.Strikingly Imagined, Gracious And Funny, This Novel Is At Once Epic And Intimate. Exploring The Role Of Fate In Our Lives - Those Who Accept It; Those Who Defy It - It Traces The Extraordinary Transformation Of An Asian Girl, From Cautious And Shy To Bold And Dignified Woman. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: The Thirteen American Arguments Howard Fineman, 2008-04-22 Howard Fineman is one of our best-known and most trusted political journalists. Mixing vivid scenes and figures from the campaign trail with forays into four hundred years of American history, Fineman shows that every debate, from our nation’s founding to the present day, is rooted in one of thirteen arguments that–thankfully–defy resolution. It is the very process of never-ending argument, Fineman explains, that defines us, inspires us, and keeps us free. At a time when most public disagreement seems shrill and meaningless, Fineman makes a cogent case for nurturing the real American dialogue. Shouting is not arguing, Fineman notes, but often hot-button topics, media “cross-fires,” and blogs reflect the deepest currents in American life. In an enlightening book that cuts through the din and makes sense of the headlines, Fineman captures the essential issues that have always compelled healthy and heated debate–and must continue to do so in order for us to prosper in the twenty-first century. The Thirteen American Arguments run the gamut, from issues of individual identity to our country’s role in the world, including: • Who is a Person? The Declaration of Independence says “everyone,” but it took a Civil War and the Civil Rights and other movements to make that a reality. Presently, what about human embryos and “unlawful enemy combatants?” • Who is an American? Only a nation of immigrants could argue so much about who should become one. There is currently added urgency when terrorists are at large in the world and twelve million “undocumented” aliens are in the country. • The Role of Faith. No country is more legally secular yet more avowedly prayerful. From Thomas Jefferson to Terri Schiavo, we can never quite decide where God fits in government. • Presidential Power. In a democracy, leadership is all the more difficult — and, paradoxically, all the more essential. From George Washington to George W. Bush, we have always asked: How much power should a president have? • America in the World. Uniquely, we perpetually ask ourselves whether we have a moral obligation to change the world—or, alternatively, whether we must try to change it to survive in it. Whether it’s the environment, international trade, interpreting law, Congress vs. the president, or reformers vs. elites, these are the issues that galvanized the Founding Fathers and should still inspire our leaders, thinkers, and citizens. If we cease to argue about these things, we cease to be. “Argument is strength, not weakness,” says Fineman. “As long as we argue, there is hope, and as long as there is hope, we will argue.” |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Plain Truth Jodi Picoult, 2007-08-07 In the small town of Paradise, Pennsylvania, peace is shattered by the discovery of a dead infant in the barn of an Amish farmer. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong JaHyun Kim Haboush, 2013-09-14 Lady Hyegyong's memoirs, which recount the chilling murder of her husband by his father, form one of the best known and most popular classics of Korean literature. From 1795 until 1805 Lady Hyegyong composed this masterpiece, depicting a court life Shakespearean in its pathos, drama, and grandeur. Presented in its social, cultural, and historical contexts, this first complete English translation opens a door into a world teeming with conflicting passions, political intrigue, and the daily preoccupations of a deeply intelligent and articulate woman. JaHyun Kim Haboush's accurate, fluid translation captures the intimate and expressive voice of this consummate storyteller. Reissued nearly twenty years after its initial publication with a new foreword by Dorothy Ko, The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong is a unique exploration of Korean selfhood and an extraordinary example of autobiography in the premodern era. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Jump and Other Stories Nadine Gordimer, 2012-03-15 In this collection of sixteen stories, Gordimer brings unforgettable characters from every corner of society to life: a child refugee fleeing civil war in Mozambique; a black activist's deserted wife longing for better times; a rich safari party indulging themselves while lionesses circle their lodge. Jump is a vivid, disturbing and rewarding portrait of life in South Africa under apartheid. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: House Of Blue Mangoes David Davidar, 2002-12 It Is The Last Year Of The Nineteenth Century In The Village Of Chevathar In Southern India. Solomon Dorai, The Headman, Is Desperately Trying To Hold Together The Fraying Ends Of Village Life At A Time Of Huge Social And Political Unease. When Violence Finally Erupts, It Takes Solomon And The Traditional Structure Of The Village With It. Three Generations Of Dorais Come And Go In The Village By The Sea, Winning And Losing The Battle For Chevathar. There Are Solomon S Sons: The Dazzling, Athletic Aaron And The Studious Daniel, Both Exiled By Their Father S Death But, In Different Ways, Both Determined To Make Their Mark On The World. And There Is Daniel S Son, Kannan, Faced With A Set Of Challenges That Could Break Him If He Isn T Strong Enough. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: The Sweet Forever George Pelecanos, 2011-08-15 One of the 1990s' rising stars of crime fiction delivers a bold, brilliant tale of mystery, revenge, and survival in the 1980s, when cocaine and money ruled the city streets and even the good guys wanted a piece of the action. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: After Dark Haruki Murakami, 2010-07-07 A short, sleek novel of encounters set in the witching hours of Tokyo between midnight and dawn, and every bit as gripping as Haruki Murakami’s masterworks The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore. At its center are two sisters: Yuri, a fashion model sleeping her way into oblivion; and Mari, a young student soon led from solitary reading at an anonymous Denny’s into lives radically alien to her own: those of a jazz trombonist who claims they’ve met before; a burly female “love hotel” manager and her maidstaff; and a Chinese prostitute savagely brutalized by a businessman. These “night people” are haunted by secrets and needs that draw them together more powerfully than the differing circumstances that might keep them apart, and it soon becomes clear that Yuri’s slumber—mysteriously tied to the businessman plagued by the mark of his crime—will either restore or annihilate her. After Dark moves from mesmerizing drama to metaphysical speculation, interweaving time and space as well as memory and perspective into a seamless exploration of human agency—the interplay between self-expression and understanding, between the power of observation and the scope of compassion and love. Murakami’s trademark humor, psychological insight and grasp of spirit and morality are here distilled with an extraordinary, harmonious mastery. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Empireland Sathnam Sanghera, 2021-01-28 EMPIREWORLD IS AVAILABLE TO ORDER NOW WINNER OF THE 2022 BRITISH BOOK AWARD FOR NARRATIVE NONFICTION ***THE BOOK THAT INSPIRED THE CHANNEL 4 DOCUMENTARY 'EMPIRE STATE OF MIND'*** THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'The real remedy is education of the kind that Sanghera has embraced - accepting, not ignoring, the past' Gerard deGroot, The Times _____________________________________________________ EMPIRE explains why there are millions of Britons living worldwide. EMPIRE explains Brexit and the feeling that we are exceptional. EMPIRE explains our distrust of cleverness. EMPIRE explains Britain's particular brand of racism. Strangely hidden from view, the British Empire remains a subject of both shame and glorification. In his bestselling book, Sathnam Sanghera shows how our imperial past is everywhere: from how we live and think to the foundation of the NHS and even our response to the COVID-19 crisis. At a time of great division, when we are arguing about what it means to be British, Empireland is a groundbreaking revelation - a much-needed and enlightening portrait of contemporary British society, shining a light on everything that usually gets left unsaid. _______________________________________________________ 'Empireland takes a perfectly-judged approach to its contentious but necessary subject' Jonathan Coe 'I only wish this book has been around when I was at school' Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London 'This remarkable book shines the brightest of lights into some of the darkest and most misunderstood corners of our shared history' James O'Brien Sathnam Sanghera, Sunday Times bestseller, February 2024 |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Him, Me, Muhammad Ali Randa Jarrar, 2016 With acerbic wit and tenderness, these often otherworldly stories capture the lives of Arab women across myriad geographies and circumstances. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Land Where I Flee Prajwal Parajuly, 2013-11-14 To commemorate Chitralekha Nepauney's Chaurasi - her landmark 84th birthday - three of Chitralekha's grandchildren are travelling to Gangtok, Sikkim, to pay their respects. Agastaya is flying in from New York. Although a successful oncologist, he is dreading his family's inquisition into why he is not married, and is terrified that the reason for his bachelordom will be discovered. Joining him are Manasa and Bhagwati, travelling from London and Colorado respectively. One the Oxford-educated achiever; the other the disgraced eloper - one moneyed but miserable; the other ostracized but optimistic. All three harbour the same dual objective: to emerge from the celebrations with their formidable grandmother's blessing and their nerves intact - a goal that will become increasingly difficult thanks to a mischievous maid and a fourth, uninvited guest. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Lady in the Lake Laura Lippman, 2019-07-23 **NOW A MAJOR APPLE TV+ SERIES STARRING NATALIE PORTMAN AND MOSES INGRAM** 'A real triumph of storytelling and suspense.' Daily Mail 'A very special kind of twisted genius.' SARAH HILARY 'Complex, hard-hitting and unflinching' Irish Times 'Aching, thoughtful, and compulsively readable.' Vanity Fair A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Cleo Sherwood disappeared eight months ago. Aside from her parents and the two sons she left behind, no one seems to have noticed. It isn't hard to understand why: it's 1966 and neither the police, the public nor the papers care much when Negro women go missing. Maddie Schwartz - recently separated from her husband, working her first job as an assistant at the Baltimore Sun - wants one thing: a byline. When she hears about an unidentified body that's been pulled out of the fountain in Druid Hill Park, Maddie thinks she is about to uncover a story that will finally get her name in print. What she can't imagine is how much trouble she will cause by chasing a story that no-one wants her to tell. What readers are saying: ***** 'A twisty, thrilling, mesmerising ride. I couldn't put it down!' ***** 'It was a delight reading this book. I enjoyed the insight into each character. The mystery was always there, but with a different twist.' ***** 'It really grabbed me. . . more than a simple detective novel.' ***** 'The absolute best Lippman to date. . . This novel grabbed me in the first pages and didn't let go.' |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: Desert Places Blake Crouch, 2004-01-22 Greetings. There is a body buried on your property, covered in your blood. The unfortunate young lady's name is Rita Jones. In her jeans pocket you'll find a slip of paper with a phone number on it. Call that number. If I have not heard from you by 8:00 P.M., the police will receive an anonymous call. I'll tell them where Rita Jones is buried on your property, how you killed her, and where the murder weapon can be found in your house. (I do believe a paring knife is missing from your kitchen.) I strongly advise against going to the police, as I am always watching you. Dear Reader: Please keep the light on tonight. What happens next will scare you. Guaranteed. In one of the most chilling debuts of the year, Blake Crouch tells a tale that shatters the boundaries of fear. Caution: You've Been Warned--Read at Your Own Risk! Andrew Z. Thomas is a successful writer of suspense thrillers, living the dream at his lake house in the piedmont of North Carolina. One afternoon in late spring, he receives a bizarre letter that eventually threatens his career, his sanity, and the lives of everyone he loves. A murderer is designing his future, and for the life of him, Andrew can't get away. An edge-of-your-seat thriller, Desert Places introduces the American public to a new suspense writer who will be scaring us all for years to come. |
| the accidental asian sparknotes: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian Sherman Alexie, 2008 Tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist who leaves his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white high school. |
ACCIDENTAL Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of ACCIDENTAL is occurring unexpectedly or by chance. How to use accidental in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Accidental. Frequently Asked Questions About accidental.
ACCIDENTAL Definition & Meaning - Dictionary.com
What does accidental mean? Accidental describes something that happens by chance or without planning, as in The hero has an accidental meeting with the villain early in the movie that sets …
ACCIDENTAL | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
ACCIDENTAL definition: 1. happening or existing by chance: 2. a sign showing that there is a temporary change from the…. Learn more.
Accidental - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms - Vocabulary.com
Anything accidental happens by chance or unintentionally. People don't mean to do accidental things. An accident is something unforeseen that no one wanted to happen, like a car accident …
Accidental - definition of accidental by The Free Dictionary
1. happening by chance or accident. 2. nonessential; incidental: accidental benefits. 3. pertaining to or indicating sharps, flats, or naturals in music. n. 4. a nonessential or subsidiary …
ACCIDENTAL definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary
accidental implies occurring unexpectedly or by chance: an accidental blow. casual describes a passing event of slight importance: a casual reference. fortuitous is applied to events occurring …
accidental adjective - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and …
happening by chance; not planned. I didn't think our meeting was accidental—he must have known I would be there. Definition of accidental adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's …
Accidently or Accidentally – Which is Correct?
Accidentally is an adverb. It describes something that was not on purpose. Remember, adverbs modify verbs, so this will be used around other verbs in a sentence. For example, “Mom, I …
ACCIDENTAL Synonyms: 89 Similar and Opposite Words - Merriam-Webster
Synonyms for ACCIDENTAL: chance, inadvertent, unexpected, unintentional, incidental, casual, unintended, unplanned; Antonyms of ACCIDENTAL: intentional, deliberate, premeditated, …
Accidental (music) - Wikipedia
In musical notation, an accidental is a symbol that indicates an alteration of a given pitch. The most common accidentals are the flat (♭) and the sharp (♯), which represent alterations of a …
ACCIDENTAL Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of ACCIDENTAL is occurring unexpectedly or by chance. How to use accidental in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Accidental. Frequently Asked Questions About accidental.
ACCIDENTAL Definition & Meaning - Dictionary.com
What does accidental mean? Accidental describes something that happens by chance or without planning, as in The hero has an accidental meeting with the villain early in the movie that sets the …
ACCIDENTAL | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
ACCIDENTAL definition: 1. happening or existing by chance: 2. a sign showing that there is a temporary change from the…. Learn more.
Accidental - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms - Vocabulary.com
Anything accidental happens by chance or unintentionally. People don't mean to do accidental things. An accident is something unforeseen that no one wanted to happen, like a car accident or …
Accidental - definition of accidental by The Free Dictionary
1. happening by chance or accident. 2. nonessential; incidental: accidental benefits. 3. pertaining to or indicating sharps, flats, or naturals in music. n. 4. a nonessential or subsidiary circumstance or …
ACCIDENTAL definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary
accidental implies occurring unexpectedly or by chance: an accidental blow. casual describes a passing event of slight importance: a casual reference. fortuitous is applied to events occurring …
accidental adjective - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage …
happening by chance; not planned. I didn't think our meeting was accidental—he must have known I would be there. Definition of accidental adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. …
Accidently or Accidentally – Which is Correct?
Accidentally is an adverb. It describes something that was not on purpose. Remember, adverbs modify verbs, so this will be used around other verbs in a sentence. For example, “Mom, I …
ACCIDENTAL Synonyms: 89 Similar and Opposite Words - Merriam-Webster
Synonyms for ACCIDENTAL: chance, inadvertent, unexpected, unintentional, incidental, casual, unintended, unplanned; Antonyms of ACCIDENTAL: intentional, deliberate, premeditated, …
Accidental (music) - Wikipedia
In musical notation, an accidental is a symbol that indicates an alteration of a given pitch. The most common accidentals are the flat (♭) and the sharp (♯), which represent alterations of a …
