The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong KingstonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
S.F. Bay Area Chinese culture, examined.
This is an interesting coming-of-age memoir. It is a deep dive into Chinese culture set in mid-century California and was published in the 1970's. The author's family of origin ran a laundry business where she worked helping her parents. Later in life she became a professor at U.C. Berkeley. She lives in Oakland, the city in which I was born. Because I spent a large portion of my life living in the S.F. Bay Area I was intrigued by the setting as much as by the people described.
The book is sometimes said to be fantasy as there is a chapter based on Chinese folklore, but I found it more descriptive of the early life of the author and her childhood perceptions of family members. The book is on a list I keep on my blog of books recommended by the College Board for students planning to go to college. I'm far beyond college age but am still working on reading the books on that list. This is one that isn't exactly what I'd call "a classic" as it was published in the 1970's, yet it is a great descriptive memoir that is well worth reading.
The subtitle, "A Girlhood Among Ghosts," is a little misleading. The ghosts are not supernatural beings. Apparently this is what they called people with less pigment in their skins.
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