Product Description
With the steady increase in the number of Asian immigrants, our interest in Asian-American communities has intensified in recent years. While much has been written on the experiences of established immigrant communities such as the Chinese and the Japanese, little is yet known about the Korean Americans, one of today's fastest growing Asian-American minorities. This volume provides an overview of the history of Korean immigration to this country--from the first immigrants who arrived in Hawaii at the beginning of the century to the most recent waves of the 1980s and 1990s--and a detailed analysis of the main problems Korean Americans face in adjusting to life in their adopted country. The author collected most of his data through a questionnaire survey and case-study interviews, which provide lively, first-person accounts of the immigrant experience, focusing in particular on problems such as the language barrier, social isolation, family tension, and the challenge of earning a livelihood. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Concise, readable intro to the Korean immigrant experience
This is a well-researched, highly accessible account of the issues Korean immigrants have faced in their assimilation into American society. For the most part, it is clearly written and free of academic jargon. Drawing from the author's own research as well as studies done by others, it accomplishes its stated goal of capturing the wide range of aspects of Korean immigrant life in one succinct volume.

Written by a Korean-American sociology professor (who is now retired), the book is organized into six chapters: History of Korean Immigration; Motives for Immigration; The Language Barrier; Making a Living; Family Adjustment; and Prejudice and Discrimination. These are followed by a Prospects section that briefly discusses the future of Koreans in the United States. The author fills each chapter with survey data and anecdotes to construct a well-rounded, insightful narrative that can easily be followed by an average (i.e., non-academic) reader. For those who want to investigate certain topics in more detail, each chapter contains a few pages of endnotes, and a seven-page bibliography is included at the end of the volume.

The book collects a large breadth of experiences about Korean immigrants of varying economic and social backgrounds. The stereotypical Korean immigrant, to most Americans, is a small-business owner in a city ghetto. However, many Koreans in America do not fit that image. Most Koreans who immigrated in the 1960s and 1970s were educated as professionals and sought employment in the U.S. in their desired fields (not always successfully). Also, while many Korean immigrants have settled in urban areas with high concentrations of other Koreans, others have landed in small towns and cities where there are few other Koreans or even Asians. This book describes the unique difficulties faced by all sorts of individual Korean emigres, as well as the problems shared by all Koreans in the U.S. regardless of background or locale.

Some of the most illuminating parts (for me) are in the last two chapters, which deal with family adjustment issues and discrimination faced by Koreans. Korea is a society with a long history of patriarchal traditions derived from Confucian teachings. Many of these traditions conflict with modern American cultural norms, such as a more egalitarian treatment of women and a preference for the nuclear family, rather than the extended family life that is common in Korea. This book describes how American cultural differences affect each party in a Korean immigrant family, from husbands and wives to the children and elderly parents of immigrants.

The prejudicial treatment of Koreans also receives special attention. The book touches on clashes between Koreans and inner-city blacks, which received intense media exposure after the 1991 L.A. riots. It also documents subtle forms of discrimination faced by Koreans in the workplace, as well as the general feeling of being perpetually condescended to and treated like an interloper in a society dominated by people of European descent.

Caveats: Although the book serves as an excellent top-level overview of the topic, it lacks depth, coming in at about 200 pages. If you want more detailed treatment of a particular aspect of the Korean immigrant experience, then consult another book -- for instance, some of the sources cited in the bibliography. Also, the text contains a few awkwardly phrased sentences that interrupt the flow of reading, though none are mangled beyond comprehension. And every now and then, the author makes underqualified, overgeneralized statements that lean heavily on speculation and not enough on hard evidence. But given the author's extensive knowledge of the topic, perhaps a bit of informed speculation isn't out of place in a book such as this.

If you're interested in learning about the Korean immigrant experience, this is a good place to start.

very insightful
The author's Korean Immigrants and the Challenge of Adjustment gives form to and a perspective on what we, as Korean immigrants, frequently talked about among ourselves. Compared with the detail the author has includedwithin his book, we were only casual observers.

If I were to ask anyof my Korean American friends to read only five anecdotes from among thedozens contained in this book, he, or she, will probably be able toidentify with at least three of the five situations described in thestories. If he can't, then his parents,relatives,or friends will be able torelate to these experiences.

The author's skill provides Korean Americanswith vivid insights into our experiences as immigrants.

Kimyong Kim, a"second wave" Korean immigrant. ... Read more

Product Description
Caitlin’s family adopted Simon, a Korean boy, just before Caitlin’s father left their family. Caitlin thinks she, her mother, and Simon form a perfect family. But when Simon’s older sister, Youn Hee, turns up in a Korean orphanage, Caitlin agrees that adopting her is the right thing to do, and she’s sure it will be fun to have a sister her age. But when Youn Hee joins the family, Caitlin learns it’s rewarding, but not easy, to have a new sister.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Completely unrealistic and racially slanted
I applaud C.S. Adler's attempt to explore the phenomenon of American-Korean international adoption, but this work of fiction is disturbingly false.The mother in the story essentially gives her daughter the decision whether or not to adopt Youn Hee, and then the mother praisesthe daughter's "generosity."Even more disturbing is the lack ofa homestudy or social worker to ensure Youn Hee's well-being.The dayafter Youn Hee arrives, her adoptive mother goes to work, leaving YounHee's adoptive sister to look after her.What ethical adoption agencycould allow this irresponsible, selfish neglect of a newly adopted child? Also, Youn Hee's mastery of English progresses far too rapidly to berealistic.Where is a translator, someone who can help her adjust to a newlanguage and culture?I was shocked at this inaccurate portrait of aterribly handled adoption.Although the cultural identity issues areaddressed, Adler lacks a basic grasp of the international adoption processor an authentic understanding of the adoption experience.The Americangirl in this book is an understandable character, but she is given far toomuch responsibility and maturity for such a young child.Please do NOTread this book if you are looking for insight in the adoption experience. However, this book serves as an effective testament to just how much workneeds to be done in understanding transracial adoption.

Youn Hee & Me
I think this book is pretty good for children. It is about two children adoped from Korea and they had a problem of understanding each other and felt the love of their family. Moreover,it explained different cultureswhich are American and Korean.Next,they loved their younger brother, buttheir teaching methods are different from each other and they hada gap.They understand each other and feel like siblings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Excellent
This is a well thought out, organized and very important historical document/autobiography.

GIves perspective on the lives we lead
I was assigned Quiet Odyssey for an Asian American studies class, and I was riveted by the clean, simple prose.But the story is far from simple, I admire Mary Paik Lee for her incredible endurance and courage. As a second generation Asian American, my family's roots in the United States are relatively new, but now I realize, that it has been due to Asian Americans like Mary Paik Lee that allow me to lead and pursue the life I wish. Not only is Quiet Odyssey the story of her life, it is also the story of California.It's eye opening to see how much Los Angeles and the rest of California have changed since she first landed here.And lastly, Mary Paik Lee has some incredible spunk to do and say some of the things she did. Impressive.

Historical significance cannot be stressed enough!Read it!
I read this book in highschool while living in in Seoul, Korea.I am a Korean-American woman and I found the information in this book to be _invaluable_. Unlike similar historical works such as John Okada's'No-No Boy' or Sui Sin Far's 'Mrs. Spring Fragrance and Other Writings',this is pure autobiography (or ethnobiography if you want to be technical).I cannot believe how lucky we are as Americans to get a first-handaccount of a Korean-American living in turn of the century America, whenthere were literally only a handful living in the country at the time.The 'memoirs' are not only highly satisfying in themselves, they serve asanchors to the past in which to begin tracing a discernable branch of Asian-American history.Adds perspective in which to view today's world ofAmerican race relations.I think this is necessary reading for anyonewho is interested in race, American society, and/or history.Will alsoappeal to minority activists.

One of the best ethnic study books I've ever read
I am a student from San Francisco State University and this is one of the books that I have to read for my Ethnic Studies Class. I really think this is a book made for student of Ethnic Studies and I strongly recommend thisbook to anyone who is interested in learning more about history of AsianAmerican. ... Read more

Product Description
A novel about a Korean eighth grader, a recent immigrant to the United States, coming to terms with her background. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Poetry from Taes Sonata Heart
The plot from my story is really just about Teas life of her immigrating to the United States of America. All of her hardships of getting around in the United States of America. She and her mother did not have any money or food. They both get jobs at a food mart, they also get a discount on food because they work there. In Teas spare time she writes all these pomes and novels for teacher, and adults. I liked the story; I wasn't very catchy until the very end of the story when the magazine editor heard some of her poetry on the radio.

Yay! A novel about first love with a Korean American hero
Tae is struggling at school, but it is not her grades.She is struggling to find her place in the rigid social structure of Jr. High.It bothers her that she stands out as one of two Korean Americans at school.She is at that age where she knows what she should do or say to her parents, but she also knows how to hurt them.She is starting to grow up and not only think of her own feelings.She is also noticing boys and they are noticing her.

This is a story about assimilation, growing up, first love, and friendship.I finished this book in one sitting.It was interesting to read about the feelings of a recent Korean immigrant girl.Tae is realistically not perfect, but she is growing as she experiences the joys and tribulations of Jr. High.

without hope
This book Taes sonata was very dissapointing to me. It was wothout any hope. It couldnt even come close to the book I have red. This book was the worst book i have ever red. I would never tell someone about this book.theres no more way I can diss this book of how I hated it.
Theres only one good thing about this book was the ending when i stopped reading it.thats the way I think of this book. this book was a huge waste of my time. I dont think it is very fit for guys. this is a terriable, horriable, useless book!!!

disapointed
This book taes sonata was really dissapointing for me. I thought that it was going to be a happy story. But in the end it was a sad story. If i had a chance to read this again or not, I would not.
This book taes sonata was a waste of my time. The only reason that I gave it a 2 is because if you are haveing a fright with your friends. Then you and your friends should read this book. It teaches you that friendship is everything.

this book was the best
tea's sonata is a good book. i would give it a 5 because it was so good and romantic. i enjoyedthe end the most because josh came to sit with her because he liked her which she probbably had wished for. the book was so interesting and i enjoyed it with my class. it has being the best book i have read so far. the book also taught me a lesson like tae did. ... Read more

Product Description
"Korean-American Youth Identity and 9/11:An Examination of Korean-American Ethnic Identity in Post-9/11 America" by Professor Heerak Christian Kim of Asia Evangelical College and Seminary is a very important book in the area of ethnic studies in post-9/11 America.Although many books have been written on 9/11, there has not been adequate examination of its impact for particular ethnic groups.Even scholars of ethnic studies seem to ignore 9/11 as an event that is incidental to self-understanding and group identity of America's ethnic groups.This book is a step in the right direction in computing 9/11 into the study of ethnic identity and experience in America.This book specifically focuses on Korean-American identity, particularly in regards to Korean-American youth.However, this scholarly examination is further significant in its sensitivity to the ethnic experience of other Asian-Americans and in its examination of Korean-American identity as negotiated in the context of the larger dominant culture of America.And this book contributes further to the understanding of ethnic identity in the United States by devoting an important chapter to the dynamics of inter-ethnic relations between Korean-Americans and African-Americans. Besides being a monumental contribution to the understanding of ethnic identity in comparative terms, this book represents an important contribution to Korean-American studies.This book is the most up-to-date book on Korean-American youth identity and provides the scholarly community with valuable information regarding which direction to take future research regarding Korean-American identity and the Asian-American experience in the United States.As Asian-Americans are rising in terms of number and influence, the need for understanding their identity becomes important on academic, social, political, economic, and intellectual levels.This book is a very important book to meet the rising need that has been largely neglected in academia and in the publishing industry thus far.This book is an essential addition to all serious university libraries, public libraries, and private personal libraries of educated individuals. ... Read more

Product Description
Korean Americans are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States. Although they share many similar cultural characteristics with other Asian Americans, the Korean Americans are unique in terms of their strong ethnic attachment, extensive participation in Christian churches, heavy involvement in self-employed small businesses, wide geographic dispersion in settlement, and the emergence of the 1.5 generation phenomenon. This book answers the following questions for the student or interested reader: BL Who are the Korean people? BL Why did they come to the United States? BL How did they adapt to their new country? BL How are they received by the majority of Americans? BL What are their accomplishments, problems, and contributions to American society? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Korean-American History
Korean have becoming to the United States for a hundred years, longer than a lot of people realize. Through this time, they have faced a lot of the same problems as other immigrant groups like xenophobia and prejudice. However, they are unique in certain ways though stereotypes like the 'model minority' or seen as the 'yellow peril' as well as having strong family bonds. Hurh goes into accounts of the differenst stages of Korean immigration starting in 1903 through the present looking at how society has treated them and their relations to other racial groups like blacks, whites and other asian ethnic groups. It also deals with how second generation korean children adapt to america as well korean elderly who come to join their children in america. It also deals with how religion (christianity and buddhism) have affected their lives. One of the interesting things about the book is that Hurh deals with the subject of 1.5 generation, those who come from Korea while growing up, a subject that is often looked over in the discussion of ethnic groups. ... Read more

Product Description
"A week in the life of an eight-year-old Korean girl is presented through diary entries, wry third-person narrative, and full-color photographs. Children will delight in this work . . . an exemplar of how this type of book should be done".--starred review, "School Library Journal" . ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Charming and informative
Chi-hoon could be an 8-year-old girl almost anywhere--she is playful, imaginative, has an occasional disagreement with her older sister, and loves to visit her grandparents.The charm of this book is that we see Seoul, Korea through a young girl's eyes.This book is filled withsnippets of Korean history and culture.We see Chi-hoon struggle to payattention at a piano lesson, go to market with her mother, try to win aschool prize, and play yut, a traditional Korean game, with hergrandparents.In a particularly amusing scene, we see Chi-hoon persuadeher grandfather to buy her cold noodle soup (a Korean specialty) againsther parents' wishes.How many children and parents can identify with thatscenario!:)This is a fantastic book for any age.Even the youngestchildren will enjoy the lovely photographs, and older children and adultswill enjoy re-reading the text which contains gentle references to issuessuch as tremendous academic pressure (Chi-hoon's cousin will remain at homefor an entire year to prepare for college entrance exams), the oldergeneration's bias toward male children, and the age hierarchy (Chi-hoonwishes that she didn't have to call her older sister Oni, a title ofrespect).A must read! ... Read more

Product Description
Nick Park loves girls.

Drumstick legs, cherry-colored lips, dumpling cheeks...everything about them he wants to eat up. But he’s dateless and has been since he discovered girls in the third grade, and he’s convinced himself that this is solely based on the fact that he’s the only Korean American teenager in Renfield—the fifth richest (and WASPiest) town in Connecticut. In Nick’s mind, he sticks out like a banana in a wheat field.

And now it’s time for him to figure it out once and for all. Is it all in his head or are his suspicions that his heritage is keeping him from a triumphant boob fest true?

An excerpt from Girls for Breakfast:
What confused me about involuntarily visualizing Miss Hamilton with no clothes on was that she wasn’t even pretty. Her nose was pointy and her frizzy hair always looked sweaty, but I couldn’t stop picturing her naked. I also couldn’t stop picturing Martha the bus driver naked every time I stepped on the bus. I was a perverted Superman. As the bell rang I silently vowed to stop staring at the Playboys at night in order to get the rest crucial to curing me. I glared at Miss Hamilton’s breasts and shook a fist at her bare butt as she faced the chalkboard. I knew in my heart I’d beat this disease.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Sometimes We are the Source of Our Problems
Nick Park is the only Korean American youth growing up in a white suburb. He is good at sports, but not popular and he has problems with girls, to say the least. He has low self-esteem and tries to cover it up by going out of his way to get attention. In fact the book starts out with Nick missing his graduation rehearsal, because he made a jerk of himself in front of a girl at the prom.

He blams the fact that he's Korean for his problems when really his problems lie within himself. He wants to belong, to be popular, but he makes it difficult for others to get to know him with his embarrassing antics. This is at times a shocking book and at other times very funny. David Yoo has somehow put a bit of all of us in Nick Park, making him a very real character who you will be thinking about long after you finish this book. I just loved it.

Funny and honest
I just finished Yoo's "Girls for Breakfast". I really don't like spoilers, so I won't include any here. The narrator of the novel,Nick, is soooo funny, that I couldn't put it down and finished it in a couple of sittings. Nick wants it all with typical teen bravado, but is also incredibly insecure. I read a fair bit of YA lit. (I'm a teacher), and I was really grateful that Yoo doesn't have some big moment of clarity where the character figures out all his problems and does the right thing at just the right time(this ruins many similar books). Instead, his narrator is just a big ball of raging hormones and confusion and contradictions. I'd say the only downside of this novel is all the pop culture allusions. They had me dying from laughter from the first couple of pages ("Kodiak Long Cut bear"), but they might be confusing to a 16 year old who didn't grow up in the 80's. Overall, hilarious and painfully honest. I would definitely recommend this to smart teens.

Ingredients: wicked humor and incredibly embarrassing moments
I started reading GIRLS FOR BREAKFAST on the half-hour bus ride home, and I smirked all the way there. There's so much wicked humor in this book. I'm not Korean and I'm certainly not a guy, but I totally identified with Nick Park. He's both flawed and sympathetic. I laughed hard at his childhood memories of teaching fake martial arts to his friends, his mom's horrible cooking, and his incredibly embarrassing moments around girls and pretty much everyone else. Many times I was smiling and sighing, "Poor guy." Nick manages to come across both awkward and sweet. He seems real enough that I might run into him one day. I very much recommend this book.

completely relatable, utterly engrossing, outrageously entertaining
I'm not a teen, but just feel like one, reading this excellentsemi-autobiographical fiction. Funny and touching, reminiscent of "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers, but for teens. This quick paced books will make you laugh, grimace in embarrassment and shared angst, and root, root, root for Nick.

Breakfast of Champions
David Yoo's novel feels a little overextended: did he really have to begin the saga of Nick Park from all the way back in third grade?But in general he knows how to tell a story and capture the reader's attention right away.Nick doesn't have many Korean friends, and he's ashamed of the way his mother serves Korean kimchee with her cheeseburgers, ashamed of his dad's heavy accent."Hey Mr Park," Mitch said."Hello, Meech," my dad said.I flinched.Mitch and Paul laughed; they thought he was hilarious.His accent sounded more pronounced around my friends.Other Asian kids in the Korean church Nick sometimes attends call hima "banana," -- yellow on the outside, white on the inside.And yet Yoo makes Nick's struggles with his contested masculinity into a rewarding and heartwarming tale.

He's good at tennis, and that makes him a few friends.And he draws well, so he gets put in the poster club at high school--a wealthy suburb where some of his pals live in actual mansions: Paul's got an bowling alley in his basement.At the same time he is sometimes tolerated, but racist bullies make his life a hell, as when one know-nothing calls him "Long Duk Dong" after the comic exchange student from SIXTEEN CANDLES.Racial epithets fly all over the place in GIRLS FOR BREAKFAST, and there's no safe place for a boy like Nick.The girls he lusts after aren't all that interested in him, but there's always Miss January from an old issue of Playboy.She's been sitting in his closet for ten years or more, and whenever life gets tough for him, he hauls her out and starts spanking it.(In one amusing scene he looks up and finds the cat, Boris, has been watching him [...], so he pulls up his shorts and tries to distract Boris from this traumatic memory.Now, that's self-effacing!)

Apparently David Yoo had the great luck to be able to work with the late, great fiction writer Lucia Berlin, a lady who died way too soon and whose books (published by Black Sparrow and other midrange presses) are pretty much out of print, and who stands the risk of being forgotten.I think Lucia Berlin, one of the finest writers in recent memory, would have been proud of Woo her student; he shares something of her intense interest in humanity, her gifts of penetrating dialogue and concrete observation, and quite a lot of her big-hearted humor, the laugh that could warm one's bones.I expect that GIRLS FOR BREAKFAST, even with its occasional lapses in taste, and its infrequent longueurs, introduces us to a masterful voice. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Smart, Eye-Opening!
I love this book--as someone who studies race/ethnicity, immigration, and global dynamics, it's the kind of book I've always been looking for but could never find. The author shows how immigrant groups in the US aren't simply stereotyped or treated in certain ways because of what happens within, but because of what has happened between the US and the immigrants' sending countries. The book also shows that immigrants don't come as blank slates about race relations in this country but, precisely because of US power abroad, they learn much about it through the US military, global media, and ties with those across borders. I also really enjoyed the 2nd half of the book, which focuses on how these global, transnational dynamics I mention shape immigrants' views and behaviors about their own group and others in US society!I highly recommend! ... Read more

Product Description
Korean-American teenagers from New Jersey write about their own experiences and reflections.This book, containing 9 essays by Korean-American youths from Junior and Senior High Schools in New Jersey, gives an excellent picture of the hopes and fears of Korean-American youth throughout the United States of America.Korean-American teenage experience is one of being caught between a rock and a hard place.There is the Korean culture that their parents continue to cherish and develop both culturally and socially within the American context and there is the "American" culture they are exposed in their schools and from MTV and mass media.What to do?How to think?What way to go?This book is a look into honest feelings and struggles of Korean-American teenagers frm New Jersey. Esther Hah, the Editor, is a senior from Northern Valley Regional High School-Damarest. located in Bergen County, New Jersey.She is the president of the Fountain and Rock Church Youth Group in Emerson, New Jersey, a Korean-American church where her father is the Senior Pastor. ... Read more

Product Description
A Korean-American theologian approaches the issue of racial conflict-including discrimination between minority communities-and constructs a "theology of seeing" that aims to heal the ruptures of racism. As ethnic tensions continue to simmer and occasionally erupt, immigration and affirmative action laws are hotly debated in legislatures and newspapers nationwide. Discrimination and oppression afflict every ethnic minority: African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Native Americans-even Asian-Americans (the so-called "model minority") struggle in the racially-charged atmosphere of contemporary America.

In the aftermath of the Los Angeles eruptions of 1992 and the ensuing violence against Korean-Americans, Andrew Sung Park seeks a theological model that will help transform a society of oppression, injustice, and violence into a community of equity, fairness, and mutual consideration. Park emphasizes that such a transformation does not and cannot begin only with good intentions, but must be grounded in an understanding of all the socio-economic and cultural issues that lead to oppression and tension. Using the Korean term han to describe the deep-seated suffering of racial oppression, he then suggests resources for understanding and healing in both Christian and Asian traditions.

Part I of Racial Conflict and Healing describes the status quo from a Korean-American perspective, including discrimination against ethnic minorities and the discrimination they inflict on one another. In Parts II and III, Park suggests that American society as a whole needs a superordinate vision to form a unified community. Park argues that our profoundly individualistic society must learn to understand an idea of "self" that is formed through relationship with others. Finally, in Part IV, he presents a theological model, a "theology of seeing," as a way to genuinely understand the "other" and to promote healing within our society. ... Read more

Product Description
This book contains personal accounts of Korean teenagers who have immigrated to the United States or are studying in American high schools on student visas or parents' work visas.This book is crucial for understanding the Korean immigration experience in the United States. ... Read more

Product Description
More than 500 articles cover the broad range of popular religious culture of the United States at the close of the twentieth century. Beliefs, practices, symbols, traditions, movements, organizations, and leaders from the many traditions in the pluralistic American community are represented. Also includes cults and phenomena that drew followers, such as Heaven's Gale and UFOs. ... Read more

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"A very exciting book on Koreans in the United States!"This book is very helpful for understanding the nature and the history of the Korean community in the USA.There are over one million Korean-Americans in the USA.Despite the small number and a short immigration history, Korean-Americans have been able to contribute to America in important ways.Korean-American students generally comprise the biggest block of ethnic minorities in Ivy League universities and other leading research universities.The current Yale University Law School Dean is Korean-American.A Korean-American has been the leader of the biggest Presbyterian denomination in the USA.Korean-Americans can be found all over the USA in every profession, and they have been very successful.And, perhaps, the Korean-American community is the most evangelical Christian ethnic community in America.In fact, many InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Campus Crusade for Christ leaders in America's major universities are Korean-Americans.How is it that Korean-Americans came to play such an important role in the American society, particularly in the area of religion?This is a very good book to understand what makes the Korean-Americans "tick."Particularly insightful are the ways in which Christian Kim, the author, captures general patterns for the Korean-Americans and their successes.This is by far the best introductory book on Korean-Americans in the market and will be very useful for use in classroom settings, both on the high school and college levels, in courses dealing with ethnic studies and the Asian experience in American history and society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

Unsubstantiated...Opinionated...Rubbish
I've been led to believe that American universities make up a large majority of the world's greatest universities in terms of academic quality. So I'm a little puzzled by the large swath of American reviewers of this book who think it is a work of notable acclaim. It is poorly written first, merely a collection of zealotted right wing, unsubstantiated drivel containing such ex cathedra gems as on page 21: "Countries that do not have many evangelical Christians tend to be less aggressive about fighting for the rights of color..." (Flabbergasted doesn't describe the feeling enough).
There is no self critique of the Korean people whatsoever, quite clearly in his eyes they are the pepetual victim who has never once done anything wrong (although plenty of other Korean commentators, like Dr. M.H. Jo, can bring themselves to criticise the community when needs be ie. their negative views of black people).
I also know plenty of Koreans who smoke, drink and would hopefully stick two fingers up at this rubbish. Cambridge University, what were you thinking?

Brief is right
This guy conducted absolutely no research and bases his thoughts on things he's noticed.This may be appropriate for a biography, but it certainly is not appropriate for a book describing an ethicity of people.He stereotypes his own people without giving any merit to his thoughts in form of other sources.This book is extremely brief, and you'd be better off learning about Korean Americans from a biography or from a more documented source.

Taiwanese Community Should Read This
Taiwanese Americans should read this book.This book is about the Korean community in the USA, but there are remarkable similarities.We Taiwanese can learn from this book and think about our direction in America as an Asian American community.This book speaks to all Asians, I believe.

A Proud Korean Parent
I am very proud to be a Korean parent because I read this book.This book explains the suffering of the Korean parents all over America.Korean children often do not appreciate all the difficulties their parents had to go through to give them the University of California education.Many Korean parents work in harsh conditions and work long hours and experience all kinds of anti-Korean insults by whites.This book explains the pain that Korean parents had to go through.It is difficult to explain all my pain to my children.It's difficult when they are young because I don't want to burden them.It's difficult when they are old because it seems petty and they seem to be going through problems of their own.But Korean parents suffer in America as immigrants who work hard to reach middle class.This book is great because I can just give to my children to read and they can understand my hardships just by reading about it.I have friends who can't even speak English so they can't communicate to their children about their experiences.For such a Korean parent, this book is ideal.I recommended this book to them.

Great Korean Leader of UMC
Christian is not United Methodist, but the United Methodist Church should thank him for his service to UMC.I attended the KUMC event where hundreds of Korean teens from the conference were gathered and was really moved by his speech as well.He was absolutely inspirational and I could not help but rise up to make a commitment to serve the Korean community better and with a greater love of Christ.Christian led us in prayer and I remember people praying in tears for their local Korean UMC church, for their parents, for themselves, for Christian missions, etc.However, when Christian asked us to pray for the United Methodist Church and its leadership, not one person stood up.There was a silence of about 5 minutes.Christian kept telling us that it is important to pray for UMC.Being a Presbyterian, maybe he doesn't understand the sentiment of Korean UMC youth toward UMC denomination and its leaders.Korean UMC churches view themselves as KUMC.It's like KUMC is believed to be another denomination from UMC.I feel this way too.The reason is that we in Korean UMC churches -- particularly the youth -- feel that UMC and its white leadership tries to impose their white values on Korean UMC churches against our desire and wish.We have a wonderful culture and history.And even those of us born in the USA want to be connected to Koreannes and not be forced to subscribe to white UMC ways.I hope that white UMC leaders will read this valuable book that will open their eyes.There is great resentment against white UMC leadership among hundreds of Korean UMC churches -- particularly the youth who are educated in the United States -- because we want to be a part of the more Korean value system.Maybe after reading this book, white UMC leaders can take better steps to being sensitive to Korean culture, needs of Korean-American churches, and the Korean youth who are struggling through white-dominated America and suffering in many cases for being Korean-American. ... Read more

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“A very exciting book on Koreans in the United States!”This book is very helpful for understanding the nature and the history of the Korean community in the USA.
There are over one million Korean-Americans in the USA.Despite the small number and a short immigration history, Korean-Americans have been able to contribute to America in important ways.Korean-American students generally comprise the biggest block of ethnic minorities in Ivy League universities and other leading research universities.The current Yale University Law School Dean is Korean-American.A Korean-American has been the leader of the biggest Presbyterian denomination in the USA.Korean-Americans can be found all over the USA in every profession, and they have been very successful.And, perhaps, the Korean-American community is the most evangelical Christian ethnic community in America.In fact, many InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Campus Crusade for Christ leaders in America’s major universities are Korean-Americans.How is it that Korean-Americans came to play such an important role in the American society, particularly in the area of religion?This is a very good book to understand what makes the Korean-Americans “tick.”Particularly insightful are the ways in which Christian Kim, the author, captures general patterns for the Korean-Americans and their successes.This is by far the best introductory book on Korean-Americans in the market and will be very useful for use in classroom settings, both on the high school and college levels, in courses dealing with ethnic studies and the Asian experience in American history and society.
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This digital document is an article from Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2008. The length of the article is 6378 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the author: Objective: Recent evidence suggests increasing rates of alcohol use and related disorders among Asian-American young adults. Relatively little research has focused on this group, and few studies have examined heterogeneity in drinking prevalence and correlates across Asian subgroups. This study examined interactive effects of ethnicity, acculturation, and gender on drinking behavior among Asian-American undergraduates. Method: Participants were 112 Chinese Americans and 108 Korean Americans (mean age = 19.2 years, 61% female) who completed measures of alcohol use, acculturation, and demographic factors. Multivariate analyses examined drinking behavior (defined as quantity, frequency, and duration) as a function of ethnicity, gender, and acculturation. Results: Overall, Korean ethnicity predicted increased drinking, and acculturation predicted decreased drinking. However, acculturation interacted with ethnicity such that its influence was protective for Korean Americans and negligible for Chinese Americans. Conclusions: Previous research implicates acculturation as a risk factor for drinking among Asian Americans, but the current findings suggest that protective effects may also exist. Results also indicate that Korean ethnicity is a risk factor particularly in the context of low acculturation. These findings illustrate the need to consider ethnic subgroup differences in drinking rates and in risk and protective factors for alcohol use among Asian Americans.

Citation Details
Title: Differential effects of acculturation on drinking behavior in Chinese- and Korean-American college students *.(Report)
Author: Christian S. Hendershot
Publication: Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2008
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 69Issue: 1Page: 121(8)

Article Type: Report

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