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From the acclaimed author of Number One Chinese Restaurant comes an affecting novel about an unforgettable group of friends trying to make their way in the world without losing themselves, or one another.
Diana, Justin, Errol, and Vivian have always been told that success is guaranteed by following a simple checklist. They worked hard, got A's, and attended a good university―only to graduate into the Great Recession of 2008. Despite their newly minted degrees, they're unemployed, stuck again under their parents' roofs in a hypercompetitive Chinese American community. So when Grace―once the neighborhood golden child, now a Harvard Law School dropout―asks to make a documentary about the crew, they agree. It's not like her little movie will ever see the light of day.
But then the video, "Bad Asians," goes viral on an up-and-coming media platform (YouTube, anyone?). Suddenly, millions of people know them as cruel caricatures, each full of pent-up frustrations with the others. And after a desperate attempt at spin control derails their plans for the lives they'd always imagined even further, the friends must face harsh truths about themselves and coming of age in the new millennium.
Lillian Li's novel wryly captures a generation shaped by the rise of the internet and the end of the American dream. An epic tale of friendship and coming of age, Bad Asians asks, Can the same people who made you who you are end up keeping you from who you're meant to be?
"Li offers piercing social commentary on the expectations placed on her characters and how those pressures were exacerbated by the Great Recession. Readers will tear through this." —Publishers Weekly
"Imbued with humor and sharp social commentary, the novel beautifully explores Asian American identity; economic instability; relationships as both anchor and buoy; the malleability of success; and the ways that ambition manifests itself for better or worse."
—Kirkus Reviews
"Li writes provocatively about relationships, achievement, identity, and loyalty, while expertly intertwining the unprecedented growth and influence of streaming platforms to define (and defile) reality. A resonating multigenerational friends-and-family epic enhanced with penetrating, biting social commentary." —Booklist
"Bad Asians is a richly drawn and emotionally honest novel that explores the complex entanglements between friendship and family, ambition and happiness, and childhood and adulthood. Lillian Li's writing is poignant, funny, and filled with keen observations―in short, a perfect read for anyone trying to make sense of our unsettled times. A beautiful novel that made me think, gasp, and laugh." ―Angie Kim, New York Times bestselling author of Miracle Creek and Happiness Falls
"The four friends at the center of Bad Asians are bonded by the brutal pressures of their immigrant parents, racist schoolyard bullies, their crushing expectations of themselves, and their jealousy of local 'it girl' and parent dream-come-true Grace, who seems incapable of doing any wrong. But when a film Grace makes of them goes viral, their collective fame as 'bad Asians' threatens to destroy their bonds forever. The ugly underbelly of internet notoriety―and whether or not it's survivable―is the riveting question Bad Asians explores. Lillian Li is an unsparing observer of our unsparing times." ―Susan Choi, National Book Award-winning author of Trust Exercise and Flashlight
This information about Bad Asians was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lillian Li is the author of Number One Chinese Restaurant, which was long-listed for the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Granta, and Travel + Leisure. She is from the DC metro area and lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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