Eastern Standard Time: A Guide to Asian Influence on American Culture from Astro Boy to Zen Buddhism

by Dina Gan, Jeff Yang, A. Magazine

Book Overview

For everyone who's ever wondered how to order Korean barbecue and Chinese dim sum; what "good feng xui" is and how to make sure you have it; where to find the ten greatest Nintendo games never... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 039576341X
• ISBN13: 9780395763414
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Length: 340 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 9.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

i'm chinese-canadian and i loved this book!

i bought this book 3 1/2 yrs ago and it's been one of my favourites ever since. it is humourous and easy to read. the book touches on a huge range of subjects concerning a variety of cultures (chinese, korean, japanese, indian, thai, taiwanese, filipino, etc. )which is something no other book has done. because of this i think everyone will learn something new.for all those critics who didn't like the book, i think you take yourselves too seriously... the book is suppose to be a fun introduction to asian culture, not an in depth study of all things asian.

Personal agendas aside, this is a great book

I'm surprised by how personal and vicious some of the reviewers of this book got when writing... some of whom seem to have a personal beef with A. Magazine, some of whom have racial issues of their own. Can we just review the book and not our own lives? Based on the book itself, I would have to say that it's excellent--well-researched, very informative, very well-writtten. I couldn't find any other book on the market that offers this comprehensive and in-depth directory of Asian trends and phenomena. This book sold out in bookstores here in Singapore.

Title is misleading. Reads like a travel guide to Asia.

I wasn't sure what EST was about but I really wanted to find out. It turned out to be a mixed bag. I don't think A. Magazine or the editors should have marketed the book as a definitive guide to 'ASIAN-AMERICAN pop culture'. It's really a guide to Asian influences in mainstream culture and a guide to popular aspects of Asian culture, namely film and music. While incredibly informative and broad in its scope, as a young politically active Korean-American, I can't say I identified with much in this book. And I don't believe Asian-Americans are meant to read this book and go, 'Wow, that's what I grew up with and how I live'. The opposite, 'Wow, I should buy/wear/eat/learn some of that to get more in touch with my roots and be cool in an Asian way' seems to be more the attitude of this book. In fact, it almost seems more geared toward non-Asians who are interested in 'Asian-ness'. I hate to say it, but this 'definitive work' is guilty of exotifying itself in order to sell. I had to force myself to read the entire thing. There is a huge difference between what is 'ASIAN' and what is 'ASIAN-AMERICAN'. Japanese or Hong Kong new-wave popular culture has almost NOTHING to do with me or my life as an Asian-American. Japanese thrash metal and Korean modern art are not part of a normal 'Asian-American' experience unless one actively seeks them out and thus do NOT constitute 'Asian-American' popular culture. If I have to read a book in order to find out what my relevant 'pop-culture' consists of, then it must not have existed there in the first place. However, it was a good effort, nicely packaged, was an encyclopedia of facts, and since it attempted to be a breakthrough work (and is in theory), I give it 5 stars. I love learning about _other_ cultures but I really hope that next time, there will be something about 'Asian-AMERICAN popular culture'.

Informative, Insightful and Well-researched.

This book is a delight. It breaks the myth of assimilation and defines acculturation. EST is a well-written and occassionally humourous look at all the Asian influences in the USA. Very well organized and easy to read. Read it and get smarter!!

This is where East meets West!

This book is a great look into the ever growing Asian Culture in the the 90's! Jeff Yang is my second-cousin and we've spoken for hours on end about his book. It's amazing how much information you can learn from this. Being Taiwanese, I found this book a fresh breath from the Asian Sterotypes. It has everything for everyone, not just non-Asians. It includes the histories of Film & Movies, Literature, Food, Culture, Music, Tradition and other interesting catagories. This is truly where East meets West! Asian culture given a new fresh wind in the 90's. Bravo!