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The Changs live in the mythical, status-conscious town of Scarshill, where "To be popular, you have to have big boobs, a note from your mother that lets you use her Lord & Taylor charge card, and a boyfriend." Although her parents very much identify with being Chinese, they have encouraged Mona to become Americanized. Alas, they have done too good a job. Being Chinese to her means no more than a "predilection for peeling grapes in your mouth without moving your jaw. . . ." A befuddled Chinese American like Jen herself, Mona decides to convert to Judaism. Her reasons are not purely philosophical-her best friend Barbara Gugelstein is Jewish.
Mona is part of a large circle of friends including Jews, blacks, assimilated Americans of assorted backgrounds and a lone, staunch Japanese. "They all gather in a circle, they could be the actors in Hair, except that they have their clothes on." All of Jen's characters mean well and though they have their own biases against different cultures, they are sweetly unaware of it.
Mona discovers America to be a country of minorities, but not all minorities are equal. Being Chinese carries less clout than being African American. " 'We're not book material,' "Mona learns. " 'Blacks are the majority minority. Also they've been slaves and everything.' "
The author deftly whirls a large cast of characters into a crazy double helix of a plot. As she tries on other cultures for size, Mona learns the perils of giving up her own heritage. Beneath the dizzying satire, Mona in the Promised Land is at heart a coming-of-age novel taking Mona through her first experiences of love, dignity, and trust. The reader, as well as Mona, gains a certain biting wisdom. Jen's book serves as a reminder not to erase the ethnicity that makes each American unique.
Ellen Kanner is a freelance writer in Miami, Florida.
©1996, ProMotion, inc.