The Wall Street Journal ran an excerpt from Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother on Saturday and the essay is already the subject of heated debate.
Titled “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior,” the essay explains that Chua’s children’s success—one daughter played piano in Carnegie Hall—is thanks to their Chinese mother’s tough love. (No TV for these kids. Or playdates. Or A-minuses.)
Sound extreme? It is. But BookPage reviewer Catherine Hollis explains why it’s also a fascinating story to read:
By demonstrating both the successes and the unvarnished personal costs of Chua’s method, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother leaves the reader wondering about the feasibility of some middle educational way, where discipline and self-expression unite . . . [continue reading this review.]
Are you intrigued by Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother? As someone who comes from a “just do the best that you can” kind of household, I certainly am. I don’t even have kids, and I’ve already put this one on hold at the library.
Great idea. Will give my sister, a therapist, lots of business in a few years.
Thank goodness someone has finally said it’s time for parents to be parents and to abandon the cult of self-esteem that has been the ruination of a generation of children! Life demands standards, self-sacrifice and discipline. Children need to learn that at home and then carry it with them into the world.