Overview

"Drawing on a trove of personal accounts and cutting-edge research, a “timely and extremely important” book (The Washington Post) from the acclaimed, award-winning author of Thank You, Mr. Nixon that shows how our worldviews are shaped—and what that might mean for the shared future of the United States and China.  As East and West become more and more entwined, we also continue to baffle one another. What’s more important—self-sacrifice or self-definition? Do we ultimately answer to something larger than ourselves—a family, a religion, a troop? Or is our mantra “To thine own self be true”?   Gish Jen shows how our worldviews are shaped by what cultural psychologists call ""independent"" and ""interdependent"" models of selfhood. Coloring what we perceive, remember, do, make, and tell, imbuing everything from our ideas about copying to our conceptions of human rights, these models help explain why the United States produced Apple while China created Alibaba—and what that might mean for our future. As engaging as it is fascinating, The Girl at the Baggage Claim is a book that profoundly transforms our understanding of ourselves and our time."

Full Product Details

Author:   Gish Jen
Publisher:   Random House USA Inc
Imprint:   Vintage Books
Dimensions:   Width: 13.20cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 20.30cm
Weight:   0.283kg
ISBN:  

9781101972069

ISBN 10:   1101972068
Pages:   336
Publication Date:   16 January 2018
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Preface    Part I: We Edit the World    1 Three Edits  2 A Telling Irritation  3 Some Helpful Background  4 The Asian Paradox  Part II: The Flexi-Self    5 What Is a Flexi-Self?  6 Boundary Blurring  7 The Genius and the Master  8 Testing, Testing  9 Patterns and Training  Part III: The Big Pit Self    10 How WEIRD We Are  11 America, an Explanation  Part IV: Meetings and Mixings    12 Our Talking, Our Selves  13 In Praise of Ambidependence  14 Greatness in Two Flavors   Epilogue  Acknowledgments  Appendix A: Key to Self Text  Appendix B: Recommended Reading   Notes   Bibliography  Illustration Credits  Index 

Reviews

Timely and extremely important . . . In this book Gish Jen has once again taken the universal and made it personal, and vice versa . . . She is uniquely suited to explore this topic. --Lisa See, The Washington Post Wise, impeccably researched, beautifully written, and vitally important . . . Gish Jen brings a novelist's understanding heart and a scholar's appreciation to her new book on the cultural differences between East and West, and a sympathetic perspective of someone who has been both an insider and an outsider in both. --Nell Minow, The Huffington Post I loved the book! A deep psychological examination of how place, habits, and identity mix in our world. Tremendous! --Yo-Yo Ma Fascinating . . . Rich with examples of the contrast between Asian Society and our own. . . . She is onto something that the typical American may become aware of as we bump into people unlike ourselves--from other cultures, not limited to Asians. --Repps Hudson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch A fascinating, brilliant book that gripped me from page one. Subtle, erudite, and daring, The Girl at the Baggage Claim is a tour de force by one of the most insightful writers of our time. --Amy Chua, the John M. Duff Jr. Professor of Law at Yale Law School, and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother [Turns] a study of culture and psychology into an engaging narrative. Whether in commerce, diplomacy, or travel, readers can take away memorable insights into how identity and context shape worldviews. --Linda Levitt, Popmatters Jen holds up a comprehensive and scholarly mirror to both worldviews--and be warned: Her mirror is honest, and at times provocative. --Deborah Mason, BookPage I honestly can't overstate how fascinating I found this book. It's shaken (in the best possible way) some of my basic assumptions about being a Self. -Jason Gots, producer of Big Think An excellent and engaging read, certain to appeal to readers interested in cross-cultural communication, cognitive science, and the experience of Asian Americans in the United States. --Rebecca Brody, Library Journal (starred review) [Jen] articulates the complexities of culture with a novelist's command of language in this rich exploration of the East-West culture gap. --Publishers Weekly Insightful, far-reaching and a joy to read, Gish Jen takes on the mystery of cultural difference, and succeeds in cracking the code. The Girl at the Baggage Claim answered questions I've been asking my whole life. --David Henry Hwang, playwright of M. Butterfly I honestly can't overstate how fascinating I found this book. It's shaken (in the best possible way) some of my basic assumptions about being a Self. -Jason Gots, producer of Big Think This book gives special proof to the belief that our best novelists are also our best psychologists. With characteristic wit and unfailing insight, Gish Jen creates a genre all her own--uniquely universal, deeply serious, and unselfconsciously joyous. --Maryanne Wolf, the John DiBiaggio Professor of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University, and author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain What a delightful exploration of ideas about how culture affects notions of the self. In her trademark lively and witty prose, Gish Jen not only limns non-Western views of the self but questions whether the Western self is really a natural way to be. A powerful, provocative work. --Michael Puett, the Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History at Harvard University, and author of The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life. Gish Jen draws on personal experience, interviews with experts, and her astute reading of both literature and social science to illuminate the crucial question of self in culture. Misunderstanding East-West differences can cost us in every way we know how to measure: in money, friendship, education, in the balance of power, and the fate of the planet. The Girl at the Baggage Claim is remarkable and fluent but, most of all, essential. --Sherry Turkle, the Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT, and author of Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. Science has revealed how our senses filter the world around us--making us focus on visual boundaries, musical repetition, and musky odors. With her novelist's insights, Gish Jen shows us how differences in culture can filter our world as well. The Girl at the Baggage Claim is truly eye-opening and thought-provoking. --Eric Lander, president and founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University A beautifully observed book with a perfect, light tone, The Girl at the Baggage Claim poignantly captures the personal tussle between independence and interdependence so many of us are caught in. A must read for anyone navigating the East-West divide. --Priya Natarajan, Professor of Astronomy and Physics at Yale University, and author of Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas That Reveal the Cosmos.

Both timely and extremely important. -The Washington Post Wise, impeccably researched, beautifully written, and vitally important. . . . Gish Jen brings a novelist's understanding heart and a scholar's appreciation. -The Huffington Post A fascinating, brilliant book that gripped me from page one. . . . A tour de force by one of the most insightful writers of our time. -Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother A deep psychological examination of how place, habits, and identity mix in our world. Tremendous! -Yo-Yo Ma Fascinating . . . Rich with examples of the contrast between Asian Society and our own. . . . She is onto something that the typical American may become aware of as we bump into people unlike ourselves-from other cultures, not limited to Asians. -St. Louis Post-Dispatch The qualities of carefully rendered fiction shine through in [Jen's] book, turning a study of culture and psychology into an engaging narrative. Whether in commerce, diplomacy, or travel, readers can take away memorable insights into how identity and context shape worldviews. -Popmatters Jen holds up a comprehensive and scholarly mirror to both worldviews-and be warned: Her mirror is honest, and at times provocative. -BookPage I honestly can't overstate how fascinating I found this book. It's shaken (in the best possible way) some of my basic assumptions about being a Self. -Jason Gots, producer of Big Think In her trademark lively and witty prose, Gish Jen not only limns non-Western views of the self but questions whether the Western self is really a natural way to be. A powerful, provocative work. -Michael Puett, professor of Chinese history, Harvard University Truly eye-opening and thought-provoking. -Eric Lander, president and founding director of the Broad Institute of Harvard and M.I.T. Gish Jen draws on personal experience, interviews with experts, and her astute reading of both literature and social science to illuminate the crucial question of self in culture. . . . The Girl at the Baggage Claim is remarkable and fluent but, most of all, essential. -Sherry Turkle, author of Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age Insightful, far-reaching and a joy to read. . . . The Girl at the Baggage Claim answered questions I've been asking my whole life. -David Henry Hwang, playwright of M. Butterfly This book gives special proof to the belief that our best novelists are also our best psychologists. With characteristic wit and unfailing insight, Gish Jen creates a genre all her own-uniquely universal, deeply serious, and unselfconsciously joyous. -Maryanne Wolf, author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain A beautifully observed book . . . poignantly captures the personal tussle between independence and interdependence so many of us are caught in. A must read for anyone navigating the East-West divide. -Priya Natarajan, author of Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas That Reveal the Cosmos

Author Information

GISH JEN is the author of four novels, a book of stories, and a previous book of nonfiction, Tiger Writing: Art, Culture, and the Interdependent Self. Her honors include the Lannan Literary Award for fiction, the Mildred and Harold Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and the Fulbright Foundation. She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and lives with her husband and children in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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