"POWERFUL...STRIKING...In a series of sharp, spare stories, Norman Wong chronicles a family's escape from China to Macao, Hong Kong and, eventually, Hawaii."
--The New York Times Book Review
With rich images and subtle, beautiful prose, Cultural Revolution tells a classic story of immigrant family ties and coming of age in a unique new voice: that of a gay Chinese-American man. In eleven linked stories, Norman Wong observes the fragile world of the resilient Lau family through the eyes of their "number one son," Michael, who must bear the weight of the family name while hiding his desire for white men. Bold and evocative, Cultural Revolution heralds the arrival of a major new voice in American fiction.
"A MOVING COLLECTION by a gifted new writer with the wit and sympathy to make four generations of family experience all sound like his own...[Cultural Revolution] recalls a number of fine debut volumes from writers like Maxine Hong Kingston, Gish Jen, Cynthia Kadohata, and David Wong Louie."
--The Village Voice
"COMPELLING...COMPASSIONATE...Wong has a strong, distinct, storyteller's voice, he has a vision, and a real point of view."
--Hungry Mind Review
"A UNIQUE VIEW of a world that is both distant and remarkably close to our own. Norman Wong writes with an affecting directness, and with vigor."
--Oscar Hijuelos
"SAD, HONEST, TOUCHING, FUNNY...Wong speaks of universal experiences in Cultural Revolution...It's a book that anybody could relate to and everybody should read."
--The Advocate