{"product_id":"bad-bad-girl-gish-jen-9780593689653","title":"Bad Bad Girl","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eL.A. TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e 15 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR - \u003ci\u003eTIME\u003c\/i\u003e \"100 BEST\" - RUPAUL'S BOOK CLUB PICK - An engrossing, blisteringly funny-sad autobiographical novel tracing a tumultuous mother-daughter relationship. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A transcendent work of art.\" \u003ci\u003e--Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Gish Jen has written\u003ci\u003e the\u003c\/i\u003e multigenerational mother-daughter epic of our new century.\" --Junot Díaz \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Heart-piercingly personal. . . . Suffused with love.\" \u003ci\u003e--Los Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMy mother had died, but still I heard her voice. . . \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eGish's mother, Loo Shu-hsin, is born in 1924 to a wealthy Shanghai family whose girls are expected to restrain themselves. Her beloved nursemaid--far closer to her than her real mother--is torn from her even as she is constantly reprimanded: \"Bad bad girl! You don't know how to talk!\" Sent to a modern Catholic school by her progressive father, she receives not only an English name--Agnes--but a first-rate education. To his delight, she excels. But proud as he is, he can only sigh, \"Too bad. If you were a boy, you could accomplish a lot.\" Agnes finds solace in books and in 1947 announces her intention to pursue a PhD in America. As the Communist revolution looms, she sets sail--never to return. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLonely and adrift in New York, she begins dating Jen Chao-pe, an engineering student. They do their best to block out the increasingly dire plight of their families back home and successfully establish a new American life: Marriage! A house in the suburbs! A number one son! By the time Gish is born, though, the news from China is proving inescapable; their marriage is foundering; and Agnes, confronted with a strong-willed, outspoken daughter distinctly reminiscent of herself, is repeating the refrain--\"Bad bad girl!\"--as she recapitulates the harshness of her own childhood. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSpanning continents, generations, and cultures, \u003ci\u003eBad Bad Girl \u003c\/i\u003eis a novel only Gish Jen could have written: genre-bending, courageous, wise, and as incisive as it is compassionate.\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gish Jen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0593689658\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780593689653\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Vintage\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/22\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.59lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.19w x 0.72d","brand":"Gish Jen","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48743216349439,"sku":"9780593689653","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/bad-bad-girl-gish-jen-9780593689653","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}