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Aliens in America
Sandra Tsing Loh Book Review

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Plot Summary of Aliens in America
"In the novelization of Sandra Tsing Loh's one-woman show, "Aliens in America", the author examines growing up in a mixed race household located in the suburbs of Los Angeles, a place of hope and hospitality in post-World War 2 America. The daughter of a miserly Shanghai-born father and an optimistic German-born mother, Sandra recalls dangerous, but cheap family vacations to Ethiopia, battles with pre-adolescent bulge, awkward explorations of love and sex, and her father's search for a new wife after her mother passes away. "
Michelle Yusuf, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Aliens in America
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Kids growing up/acting up? Yes
Kids: - general coming of age story
Ethnic/Relig. of subject (inside) - Chinese
Gender/Class story? - immigrant story
If this is a culture clash: - family young v. old guard
Ethnic/regional/gender Yes
ethnic of society (outside) - American (west coast)
Period of greatest activity? - 1950+
Big/small town? - Big city

Subject of Biography
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - writer
Age: - 20's-30's
Eccentric/Mental Yes
Eccentric: - eccentric - obsessed - deluded
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Biography of famous person? Yes
Ethnicity - Chinese
Nationality - German
How sensitive is this person? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other people
Physique - average physique

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 9 ()
Africa Yes
Kind of Africa: - Black Africa
City? Yes
City: - Los Angeles
Misc setting - resort/hotel - fort/military installation
Century: - 1980's-Present

Style
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Is book humorous? Yes
If humorous, kind of humor - eccentric personalities - Dry-cynical - sarcastic/sardonic - gentle
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references - descript. of female anat. (the big B's) - descript. of female anat. (the big V)
Commentary on society? Yes
Commentary on - race - love/sex - decency
Unusual Style: - a lot of play on words - a lot of flashback and forwards
Writer's slant towards subject: - favorable
Story of entire life, or part? - story of set of events during life
If this is a kid's book: - Age 14-16
Autobiography? Yes
Pictures/Illustrations? - None
How much dialogue in bio? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life? - 0-25% of book
How much is philosophy rather than life story? - 26-50% of book
Most similar books to Aliens in America
Chasing Hepburn: A Memoir of Shanghai, Hollywood, and a Chinese Family's Fight for Freedom by Gus Lee
Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah
Falling Leaves: the True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Wild Swans by Jung Chang
Falling Leaves: the True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah


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Sandra Tsing Loh Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Michelle Yusuf  

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