"A triumph of humor and sorrow"- Oprah Magazine
“Marvelous… On the surface her storytelling seems simple and direct, but the closer you look the more layered and complex it becomes. Through characters distracted by the superficial colors of their lives, Jen invites her readers to consider profound questions about history, ancestry and identity…In all her work, Jen locates the tensions between inherited and lived cultures.” - Claire Oshetsky, New York Times
“My kingdom for a writer as savvy, empathic, and hilarious as Gish Jen. Throughout her career, she has distilled the breadth and depth of the immigrant experience into five novels and a classic collection of short fiction, Who’s Irish? … she’s back with a tender, inventive second collection, Thank You, Mr. Nixon, linked stories that enhance her reputation as a sui generis stylist. The book teems with her trademark satire…but it also probes the collective compromises of Chinese-Americans…The moral authority of Jen is essential, leading us forward as we plunge deeper in a darkening century. “ - Hamilton Cain, Oprah Daily
"A jewel box of creativity and a joy to uncover. . .Across eleven synergistic stories about interconnected families, Jen creates a sort of episodic epic spanning fifty years. . .Surely everyone — us and them, whoever they are — would benefit if together we read what Jen has to say." - Cory Oldweiler, Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Jen distills five decades of cultural collision, confusion, and collaboration between the U.S. and China into eleven gorgeously comedic and heartbreaking stories . . . For all the pain and poignancy, Jen is wryly hilarious, her plots spring-loaded, her dialogue ricocheting and spiked with contrasts in languages and customs . . ..”— Donna Seaman, Booklist
“Political and economic relations between China and the US are major news, but Jen takes it to the micro level in her vibrant short stories about character who are varying degrees of Chinese and American… Jen’s crisp prose, wonderful eye for detail, and wry humor make them a joy to read, and there is wisdom here, too.” Kirkus Reviews
ABOUT THANK YOU, MR. NIXON:
Beginning with a cheery letter penned by a Chinese girl in heaven to “poor Mr. Nixon” in hell, Gish Jen embarks on a fictional journey through U.S.-China relations, capturing the excitement of a world on the brink of tectonic change.
Opal Chen reunites with her Chinese sisters after forty years; newly cosmopolitan Lulu Koo wonders why Americans “like to walk around in the woods with the mosquitoes”; Hong Kong parents go to extreme lengths to reestablish contact with their “number-one daughter” in New York; and Betty Koo, brought up on “no politics, just make money,” embraces new truths in the authorial tour-de-force that is the final story, “Detective Dog.”
With their profound compassion and equally profound humor, these eleven linked stories trace the intimate ways in which humans make and are made by history, capturing an extraordinary era in an extraordinary way. Delightful, provocative, and powerful, Thank You, Mr. Nixon furnishes yet more proof of Gish Jen’s eminent place among American storytellers.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS:
“Brilliant…An exceptional collection, written with intelligence, wit and grace — it's one of the best books of Jen's remarkable career…The collection ends with a heartbreaker of a story, ‘Detective Dog’…Emotional but measured, it's as close to flawless as a story can be…It could well be one of the first great short stories of the COVID-19 pandemic…Every story in this collection, though, is outstanding.” - Michael Schaub, NPR
“Throughout, the collection is concerned with parents and children, couples and their vexed communication — culture clashes writ small and large. Jen, whose previous fiction has often plied the territory of second-generation American children of Chinese immigrants, here creates a panoramic universe of deftly sketched tales both comic and tragic. Her prose sparkles with clarity and moves with deceptive simplicity toward profound conclusions. This is a collection to treasure. “- Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe
“Gish Jen’s masterly short stories are as inimitable for their voice as they are for their substance. They speak, with brio and canny wit, via the familiar colloquial of dialogue; yet stirring below this brightness are the dark currents of Chinese history under the thumb of tyranny, the Hong Kong protests, Nixon’s visit to Beijing, the refuge and bewilderments of new immigrants, the entanglements of their brainy American children. If this suggests anything like political or polemical fiction, it is overridingly something else: Gish Jen’s ironical and feelingful and remarkable art. Or call it an art beyond art. It is life itself.” —Cynthia Ozick
“Witty, engaging and profound, the stories in Gish Jen's new collection beautifully illuminate the evolution of American-Chinese relationships over the past fifty years. An indispensable contemporary voice.” —Claire Messud
Be prepared to be awed and enthralled by one of our best writers! Fiercely funny and unrelentingly honest, Gish Jen’s new collection places a finger on the pulse of many lives caught between the indifferent movement of history and the profound desires of individuals.” —Yiyun Li
“[Jen’s] command of detail makes Thank You, Mr. Nixon authentic and engrossing; her vision makes it unique and vital.” — Mike Harvkey, Publishers Weekly
“It is hard to do justice to this wonderful collection of intricately linked stories. The human drama is at once personal and historical, and Gish Jen’s unique style—its keen intelligence blended with sly humor—makes this book a marvelous read.” —Ha Jin
“An absolute delight. Jen’s luminous, deeply moving stories are filled with insight and humor, heartbreak and love. Her elegant prose creates characters who not only endear themselves to us but also illuminate our common humanity. Gorgeous.” —Jean Kwok
“I loved Thank You, Mr. Nixon so much that I find myself wishing for two things. One, that I could have the space in a review to praise it to the skies and back again. Two, that I could meet Gish Jen and talk to her into the wee hours about how she accomplished such a fantastic work. I’ve read a lot of novels that take place in China or are about the Chinese American experience. Never before have I seen the China of the last fifty years captured so well, in such an intricately and cleverly constructed plot, or with such understanding and deep wit, while the chapters that take place in the U.S. are current, spot on, and sometimes critical—all written with great love as the foundation. I’m overflowing with admiration.” —Lisa See