| American Knees | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Shawn Wong |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | University of Washington Press |
| Publication date | 2005 Originally released 1995 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback and Paperback) |
| Pages | 240 pp |
| ISBN | 9780295984964 |
| OCLC Number | 57342291 |
| Dewey Decimal | 813/.54 22 |
| LC Classification | PS3573.O583 A8 2005 |
American Knees is a novel written by Shawn Wong, first published in 1995 by Simon & Schuster. It is currently published by the University of Washington Press (2005). Conceived as a cultural response to Amy Tan's novel The Joy Luck Club, Wong's book shocked and excited readers with its groudbreaking depiction of an unapologetically sexy Asian American man and three complex women.
The book humorously chronicles the romantic chapters in the life of Raymond Ding, a Chinese American university administrator who first marries and divorces the perfect Chinese American wife, dates and breaks up with a Hapa (bi-racial) younger woman, and gets involved with a Vietnamese American co-worker haunted by memories of the war.
Shawn Wong is the author of the award-winning novel Homebase and an editor of several anthologies of Asian American literature, including Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian-American Writers and The Big Aiiieeeee!. He is an English Professor and the former director of the University Honors Program at the University of Washington.
A film adaptation, entitled Americanese (2006) was written and directed by Eric Byler, produced by Lisa Onodera, and stars Chris Tashima as central figure Raymond Ding. The film was acquired by IFC Films but has not been released.