Understanding Maxine Hong Kingston

"A fresh, integrative synthesis of Maxine Hong Kingston's diverse oeuvre that newly establishes for our times why Kingston still is the founding figure of post-60s Asian American letters. Lee skillfully incorporates the history of Kingston criticism into this overview of her major and minor works, while contributing an original and compelling interpretation of the key textual puzzles identified with them."—Colleen Lye, University of California, Berkeley

"A lucid and penetrating study that not only places Kingston's oeuvre in the context of the lives of the author and her family but also puts her seven books in intimate conversation with one another, deepening our appreciation of the famous works and beckoning us toward other nuggets."—King-Kok Cheung, University of California, Los Angeles

"A foundational figure, Maxine Hong Kingston occupies a rightful place as one of the most important writers in the contemporary American literary canon. Julia H. Lee's impactful, impressive treatment of the author's oeuvre—along with her sophisticated attention to the considerable amount of criticism it has generated—is both critical tribute and scholarly testament to why Kingston still matters."—Cathy J. Schlund-Vials, University of Connecticut