Bulletproof Buddhists and Other Essays

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Asian-American cultural studies often pass overlooked in a country gripped by black-and-white fever. With a rampaging irreverence that suggests he may be overcompensating for the lack of male Asian-American voice in the national literary imagination, Frank Chin is trying to change all that. A bold, outspoken style characterizes each idiosyncratic essay. His piercing insights land on everyone from Southeast Asian gangsters to a group of white kids who hurl the word “foreigner” at Chin and his son during a hilarious highway rest-stop episode. From being California's first Asian railroad brakeman to pioneering the Asian-American play in the 1970s, Chin has made a career of challenging stereotypes and taking a good, loud look at West Coast multiculturalism. Provoking thought (as well as outrage) has long been Chin's forte, and Bulletproof Buddhists is no exception.