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melodys_library's review against another edition
4.0
What can I say about the late, great Alex Tizon? This Pulitzer-prize winning Filipino-American was a journalistic gem. I know some people have different opinions of him after his Atlantic article “My Family’s Slave”, but I personally feel that his writing contributed honestly and positively, and he uplifted the next generation of Asian Americans.
In Big Little Man: In Search of my Asian Self, Tizon painted a picture of a childhood that felt so familiar, it could have been about my own childhood. Each chapter focused on the multitude of stereotypes, myths, and years of colonial oppression that impact and ultimately shape Asian American men. Tizon communicates his personal doubts, anxieties and challenges that he battles, the yearning for a sense of belonging and worthiness, and translates them into vignettes while sharing his thorough research and opinions on Asian history and media.
I had to keep telling myself: This is one man’s point of view, and is not representative of everyone. But overall, I think Tizon did an eloquent job speaking up about challenges and reaching out to uplift men in the Asian American community.
In Big Little Man: In Search of my Asian Self, Tizon painted a picture of a childhood that felt so familiar, it could have been about my own childhood. Each chapter focused on the multitude of stereotypes, myths, and years of colonial oppression that impact and ultimately shape Asian American men. Tizon communicates his personal doubts, anxieties and challenges that he battles, the yearning for a sense of belonging and worthiness, and translates them into vignettes while sharing his thorough research and opinions on Asian history and media.
I had to keep telling myself: This is one man’s point of view, and is not representative of everyone. But overall, I think Tizon did an eloquent job speaking up about challenges and reaching out to uplift men in the Asian American community.
sanjeevp's review against another edition
5.0
Alex Tizon has a written a very engaging book about young Asian immigrants growing up in America. His inferiority complex about the physical attributes of Asian boys and men and the lack of response from white women lasts until he begins to see the strengths of Asian men. After his divorce from his first wife, who is white he finds happiness and lasting marriage with his second wife of Filipino origin.
His fact finding trips to Philippines and China and research into the little known historical facts history of those countries was illuminating.
Alex Tizon’s Pulitzer is well earned. Every Asian boy or man in America should read this book.
His fact finding trips to Philippines and China and research into the little known historical facts history of those countries was illuminating.
Alex Tizon’s Pulitzer is well earned. Every Asian boy or man in America should read this book.
skrpk's review against another edition
4.0
This is more a biography of an entire group of people rather than an individual. Tizon writes about growing up as a Filipino-American, yet it is a highly recognizable tale other Asian-Americans (like myself) can fully relate to. This bio becomes more of an investigative study on the concept of masculinity and a criticism about an overlooked aspect of American culture.
erin_oriordan_is_reading_again's review against another edition
5.0
This is a brilliant, warm-hearted book and I'd recommend it to anyone (but especially anyone who lives in the United States). But really, would I expect anything less from a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist? Alex Tizon takes a personalized tour of Asian-American identity, and particularly Asian-American male identity, in this insightful memoir that reads like a series of fascinating essays. It's a perspective I, as a Caucasian female, would never have been able to explore without this guidebook.
sallielu's review against another edition
1.0
It's probably a 2/5 but I honestly hated this book so much I couldn't do it. There's obviously a commendable bravery in sharing his personal and clearly emotional experience of growing up as an Asian man in America. However, the undertone throughout the entire story was one of extreme and sexist entitlement. As an Asian American woman, I found the way he talked about Asian American women to be short-sighted and despicable. As if the woes he encountered as an Asian male in this society aren't the very same that affect Asian women.