Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

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Overview

An awe-inspiring, often hilarious, and unerringly honest story of one mother's exercise in extreme parenting, revealing the rewards-and the costs-of raising her children the Chinese way.

All decent parents want to do what's best for their children. What Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother reveals is that the Chinese just have a totally different idea of how to do that. Western parents try to respect their children's individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions and providing a nurturing environment. The Chinese believe that the best way to protect your children is by preparing them for the future and arming them with skills, strong work habits, and inner confidence. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother chronicles Chua's iron-willed decision to raise her daughters, Sophia and Lulu, her way-the Chinese way-and the remarkable results her choice inspires.

Here are some things Amy Chua would never allow her daughters to do:

? have a playdate

? be in a school play

? complain about not being in a school play

? not be the #1 student in every subject except gym and drama

? play any instrument other than the piano or violin

? not play the piano or violin

The truth is Lulu and Sophia would never have had time for a playdate. They were too busy practicing their instruments (two to three hours a day and double sessions on the weekend) and perfecting their Mandarin.

Of course no one is perfect, including Chua herself. Witness this scene:

"According to Sophia, here are three things I actually said to her at the piano as I supervised her practicing:

1. Oh my God, you're just getting worse and worse.

2. I'm going to count to three, then I want musicality.

3. If the next time's not PERFECT, I'm going to take all your stuffed animals and burn them!"

But Chua demands as much of herself as she does of her daughters. And in her sacrifices-the exacting attention spent studying her daughters' performances, the office hours lost shuttling the girls to lessons-the depth of her love for her children becomes clear. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is an eye-opening exploration of the differences in Eastern and Western parenting- and the lessons parents and children everywhere teach one another.

Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

At the onset, I should admit that I'm not part of any of this book's most likely audiences: I'm not Chinese, or Asian-American, or a book club member; or a woman or even a parent. All that said, I still found this memoir irresistible. First of all (and I'm surprised that this not mentioned more prominently in reviews), Amy Chau is a fine writer. Her memoir isn't a just wiser-than-thou catechism on child-rearing, although she certainly doesn't conceal or sugarcoat her beliefs about raising offspring properly. She is so frank about her micro-management of her daughters' educations and their responses that Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother actually invites all the controversy that has been raging ever since it first hit bookshelves. All of us have ideas or at least impulses about parenting and somehow, wonderfully, this engaging book brought them to a boil. —R.J. Wilson, Bookseller, #1002, New York NY

THE FINANCIAL TIMES

“Breathtakingly personal…[Chua’s] tale is as compelling as a good thriller.”

More Reviews (7) Fewer Reviews

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

“Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is entertaining, bracingly honest and, yes, thought-provoking.”

TIME Magazine

“Few have the guts to parent in public. Amy [Chua]''s memoir is brutally honest, and her willingness to share her struggles is a gift. Whether or not you agree with her priorities and approach, she should be applauded for raising these issues with a thoughtful, humorous and authentic voice.” –Time Magazine

Elizabeth Chang

Readers will alternately gasp at and empathize with Chua's struggles and aspirations, all the while enjoying her writing, which, like her kid-rearing philosophy, is brisk, lively and no-holds-barred. This memoir raises intriguing, sometimes uncomfortable questions about love, pride, ambition, achievement and self-worth that will resonate among success-obsessed parents…
—The Washington Post

Janet Maslin

…a diabolically well-packaged, highly readable screed…
—The New York Times

Susan Dominus

So many parenting memoirs capture the various ways the authors' children have taken them to hell and back. Refreshingly, and perhaps uniquely, Chua instead catalogs the various ways she tortured her two young daughters, all in the name of Chinese tradition and the goal of reaching Carnegie Hall…Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is entertaining, bracingly honest and, yes, thought-provoking.
—The New York Times Book Review

Publishers Weekly

Chua (Day of Empire) imparts the secret behind the stereotypical Asian child's phenomenal success: the Chinese mother. Chua promotes what has traditionally worked very well in raising children: strict, Old World, uncompromising values--and the parents don't have to be Chinese. What they are, however, are different from what she sees as indulgent and permissive Western parents: stressing academic performance above all, never accepting a mediocre grade, insisting on drilling and practice, and instilling respect for authority. Chua and her Jewish husband (both are professors at Yale Law) raised two girls, and her account of their formative years achieving amazing success in school and music performance proves both a model and a cautionary tale. Sophia, the eldest, was dutiful and diligent, leapfrogging over her peers in academics and as a Suzuki piano student; Lulu was also gifted, but defiant, who excelled at the violin but eventually balked at her mother's pushing. Chua's efforts "not to raise a soft, entitled child" will strike American readers as a little scary--removing her children from school for extra practice, public shaming and insults, equating Western parenting with failure--but the results, she claims somewhat glibly in this frank, unapologetic report card, "were hard to quarrel with." (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Considering the polarizing controversy her book has engendered, Chua comes across as surprisingly likable and engaging in her audiobook. Her narration and the text make it clear that while she vaunts her strict, "Chinese parenting," she is aware how and when she went too far. Her voice toggles between firm and self-righteous (this is her "earlier self" talking) and self-deprecation: she pokes fun at her extremism, muttering grumpily, "I didn't see what was so funny!" when her husband laughs at her insistence that he have big ambitions for not only their daughters but also the family dog. Chua's voice softens with doubt and questioning as she wonders how her daughters will look back at their childhoods, and she acknowledges that it's still a struggle for her to relinquish control. A thought-provoking and engaging listen. A Penguin Press hardcover. (Feb.)

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780143120582
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
Publication date: 12/27/2011
Pages: 256
Sales rank: 22,437
Product dimensions: 5.00 (w) x 8.20 (h) x 0.80 (d)

Meet the Author

Amy Chua

Amy Chua is the John M. Duff Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Her first book, World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability, a New York Times bestseller, was selected by The Economist as one of the best books of 2003. Her second book, Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance—and Why They Fall, was a critically acclaimed Foreign Affairs bestseller. She lives with her husband, two daughters, and two Samoyeds in New Haven, Connecticut.

Read an Excerpt

This is a story about a mother, two daughters, and two dogs. It's also about Mozart and Mendelssohn, the piano and the violin, and how we made it to Carnegie Hall.

This was supposed to be a story of how Chinese parents are better at raising kids than Western ones.

But instead, it's about a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting taste of glory, and how

I was humbled by a thirteen-year-old.

Part One

The Tiger, the living symbol of strength and power, generally inspires fear and respect.

The Chinese Mother

A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically successful kids. They wonder what these parents do to produce so many math whizzes and music prodigies, what it's like inside the family, and whether they could do it too. Well, I can tell them, because I've done it. Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do:

attend a sleepover
have a playdate
be in a school play
complain about not being in a school play
watch TV or play computer games
choose their own extracurricular activities
get any grade less than an A
not be the #1 student in every subject except gym and drama
play any instrument other than the piano or violin
not play the piano or violin.

I'm using the term "Chinese mother" loosely. I recently met a super-successful white guy from South Dakota (you've seen him on television), and after comparing notes we decided that his working-class father had definitely been a Chinese mother. I know some Korean, Indian, Jamaican, Irish, and Ghanaian parents who qualify too. Conversely, I know some mothers of Chinese heritage, almost always born in the West, who are not Chinese mothers, by choice or otherwise.

I'm also using the term "Western parents" loosely. Western parents come in all varieties. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say that Westerners are far more diverse in their parenting styles than the Chinese. Some Western parents are strict; others are lax. There are same-sex parents, Orthodox Jewish parents, single parents, ex-hippie parents, investment banker parents, and military parents. None of these "Western" parents necessarily see eye to eye, so when I use the term "Western parents," of course I'm not referring to all Western parents—just as "Chinese mother" doesn't refer to all Chinese mothers.

All the same, even when Western parents think they're being strict, they usually don't come close to being Chinese mothers. For example, my Western friends who consider themselves strict make their children practice their instruments thirty minutes every day. An hour at most. For a Chinese mother, the first hour is the easy part. It's hours two and three that get tough.

Despite our squeamishness about cultural stereotypes, there are tons of studies out there showing marked and quantifiable differences between Chinese and Westerners when it comes to parenting. In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the Western mothers said either that "stressing academic success is not good for children" or that "parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun." By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way. Instead, the vast majority of the Chinese mothers said that they believe their children can be "the best" students, that "academic achievement reflects successful parenting," and that if children did not excel at school then there was "a problem" and parents "were not doing their job." Other studies indicate that compared to Western parents, Chinese parents spend approximately ten times as long every day drilling academic activities with their children. By contrast, Western kids are more likely to participate in sports teams.

This brings me to my final point. Some might think that the American sports parent is an analog to the Chinese mother. This is so wrong. Unlike your typical Western over-scheduling soccer mom, the Chinese mother believes that (1) schoolwork always comes first; (2) an A-minus is a bad grade; (3) your children must be two years ahead of their classmates in math; (4) you must never compliment your children in public; (5) if your child ever disagrees with a teacher or coach, you must always take the side of the teacher or coach; (6) the only activities your children should be permitted to do are those in which they can eventually win a medal; and (7) that medal must be gold.

Part 1

1 The Chinese Mother 3

2 Sophia 6

3 Louisa 10

4 The Chuas 14

5 On Generational Decline 20

6 The Virtuous Circle 25

7 Tiger Luck 30

8 Lulu's Instrument 35

9 The Violin 42

10 Teeth Marks and Bubbles 50

11 "The Little White Donkey" 60

12 The Cadenza 64

Part 2

13 COCO 77

14 London, Athens, Barcelona, Bombay 85

15 Popo 93

16 The Birthday Card 102

17 Caravan to Chautauqua 10s

18 The Swimming Hole 114

19 How You Get to Carnegie Hall 121

20 How You Get to Carnegie Hall, Part 2 130

21 The Debut and the Audition 137

22 Blowout in Budapest 144

Part 3

23 Pushkin 157

24 Rebellion 167

25 Darkness 176

26 Rebellion, Part 2 179

27 Katrin 185

28 The Sack of Rice 190

29 Despair 194

30 "Hebrew Melody" 198

31 Red Square 202

32 The Symbol 207

33 Going West 210

34 The Ending 216

Coda 223

Afterword 231

Acknowledgments 241

Notes 243

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Anonymous

Posted January 17, 2011

Fantastic book - honest look at, and great tips for, the challenge of raising an intelligent accomplished child in America

I love love love this book! I know it's been controversial, but those that hate this book are simply threatened by it. As a woman raised by the quintessential "chinese" mother (although she was polish, and had never even been to china), I completely agree with Chua's perspective on child-raising. As she so correctly notes, while the "chinese-mother" school of child raising can mean your child and you have storied pitched battles throughout their childhood, if done correctly (with the deep love and humor both Chua and my own mother have with regard to their children), it results in accomplished, satisfied, and stable adults who genuinely love and respect their parents for the incredible effort and love put into raising them. My own anecdoctal evidence supports this conclusion: I find that I have a much healthier, closer and more enjoyable relationship with my mother, as well as to myself, than many of my friends and acquaintances raised by the traditional "american" model of permissive parents afraid to say "no" for fear of damaging their allegedly delicate self-worth.
The delightful thing about Chua's book, however, is that it is not simply a dry manifesto about the virtues of raising children the "Tiger" way. Rather, she intervenes her delightfully personal, honest story with comments showing her ability to both laugh at herself and learn from her mistakes (which, as any parent knows, are unavoidable in some degree!). Even for those of you that won't gasp with recognition at some of Chua's stories, it is a delightful book which is absolutely worth reading with an open mind, especially if you have children or plan to have children.

31 out of 36 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted January 20, 2011

Pay attention

For readers, some people on here aren't very observant. This is a MEMOIR, not a self-help book on how to raise children. I knew that it was a memoir before I read it, but I also read her interview in Oprah magazine. She doesn't want to insult Western cultures and our way of child rearing, but it is very interesting to see her side, how she was raised, and how she raised her children. Once again, it's a MEMOIR, and take it as that and leave it. Not everyone agrees how to raise their child, and parents dislike unsolicted advice on how to raise children (especially me, a mother of twins) because each child is different, and each experience is different (not everyone knows how to raise multiples). So, just because you are a 'child development' specialist or psychologist, doesn't mean you're an expert. I personally was very interested in the differences between each culture (in the Chinese culture, not everyone agrees with the author either) and the effects the parents had on their children. Take it or leave it, no one is telling you how to raise your child. I mostly disagreed with it, but I knew it was just a book, and it was nice when she learned a big lesson. Calm down.

16 out of 20 people found this review helpful.
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ProudParent

Posted January 19, 2011

Amy Chua Speaks the Truth

It's about time someone spoke the truth about child rearing. My wife (Asian) and I (American) have followed a similar regime with our son, though somewhat less strict. He has turned out to be about as perfect as any parent could want. Everyone who meets him is impressed and asks us how we did it: now I have a guide to refer them to. Hopefully we can now send all the weak minded child psychologists, social workers, and spineless education administrators to the dust bin of history. Anyone can raise their child to be a star; Amy Chua shows the way.

12 out of 15 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted January 20, 2011

YIKES!

Somewhere between "Angela's Ashes" and "Tiger Mother" lies the key to good parenting.

I am a psychologist and I will be seeing her kids on the couch in about six years.

10 out of 30 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted February 1, 2011

Could have been good....

I read this book trying to gain some understanding/insights on "tiger mom" parenting as clearly (based on worldwide results) there is something to setting high expectations and discipline in child-rearing that works. Unfortunately, I walked away concluding that Amy Chua must simply have a great PR agency working on her behalf. This book has received an enormous amount of attention - both good and bad, but it does not deserve it. Of the 199 pages, at least 40% are filler. Do we really want to know about her dog? The book feels like a disjointed combination of a personal journal (as if a therapist recommended "write it down, you'll feel better") and Chua trying to make a point that a non-western approach to raising a child can make a difference. A topic such as this would have been better tackled in a non-fiction approach with Chua developing an argument/theory for the tiger mom parenting approach, supporting it with research facts and then including her personal antidotes to add a human element - Malcolm Gladwell has figured our this writing style brilliantly - this book just feel amateurish.

7 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
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Mia10_mom

Posted January 18, 2011

Take a page out of this book

Maybe we should all take a page out of this book and we wouldn't have so many spoiled children in this country...My own included. Remember, it is very hard and it takes a lot of work each day to take the time to discipline your children. Spoiling your children and letting things go is the easy way out.

7 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted January 16, 2011

loved it!

i am rereading it and again it is making me laugh laugh laugh. i can totally relate. if people think that children just evolve into these highly enlightened,intelligent charming beings chances are they have below to average children! the author is honest and funny in weighing her choices in child rearing. it's thoughtful on the differences in eastern/western thinking.... i think it's a great read. i loved it!

7 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted January 15, 2011

Judge the book, not the philosophy.

Chua handled this controversial material very well. She admitted that although she felt raising kids the Chinese way would have huge benefits, she was realizing the drawbacks. I found it fascinating as well as challenging to my way of parenting. I am definitely a Western mother. I happen to have a child who plays violin. She hates to practice and I find myself wanting to give up constantly.
I think taking a bit of the Chinese way and letting it influence mine is not a bad thing. Um...but no yelling. Gives me a headache.

7 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted January 15, 2011

Horrible!

As someone who has studied child development, this is a terrible way to raise your children. The result is an adult with no opinions (because they were never allowed a choice), no passion or purpose in life (aside from pleasing their parents), and a serious lack in ability to think conceptually (because they were never allowed to experiment or make mistakes). What I mean by thinking conceptually is to think in more abstract terms, or to think about a situation or problem beyond the plain facts in front of you. Thinking conceptually is what allows for creative problem solving and creative production. Children raised in this method would lack such a skill because they are encouraged not to think independently, but to do as they are instructed and learn from rote memorization. That's to say nothing of the fact that her tactics involve mental and emotional abuse towards the child.

7 out of 28 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted January 20, 2011

PARENTING AS TEACHING

HOW WOULD PARENTS REACT UPON LEARNING THAT THEIR CHILD'S TEACHERS ADOPTED SUCH AN APPROACH IN THE CLASSROOM? I SUSPECT MANY WOULD SEEK TO HAVE THE TEACHER FIRED, AND WOULD CONSIDER LEGL ACTION FOR CHILD ABUSE.

6 out of 21 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted January 18, 2011

One if any

Moms, don't waste your money...Instead spend some time with your children, loving them and being thankful each day you can hold them

6 out of 18 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted January 14, 2011

Good Read

I don's subscribe her way of doing things, but I do agree that repetition is totally underrated in the US.

6 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
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ReviewerofBooks

Posted March 11, 2011

Lacks Structure & Any True Arc

This book reads like a very rough diary of someone who will probably need to write journals & talk to therapists for a few years before realizing the many disturbing behavioral patterns she engages in and why. It is not very cohesive and not well structured. When she writes about the pages and pages of tedious notes she writes to her daughter about various measures of music she is to practice and how precisely to do so, she seems very disturbed. However, when people tell her so again and again, including her Chinese mother who moved from China to the Philippines when she was 2 saying she shouldn't be so intrusive with her daughter, she simply says she does so because she is Chinese. It seems illogical. It reminds me of a description of a narcissist. It is a very odd book. Narcissism is not quintessential to Chinese culture. My Chinese friend & I (we are both Chinese) independently had very similar responses to this book though she articulated things I noticed & found perturbing & I pointed out others. It is very misleading the way the author refers to everything she does as Chinese even when people in the book point out that this explanation does not make sense, yet she persists in doing so. It is also very misleading regarding valuable techniques in working with children. The author comes across as knowing very little of value with regard to teaching music. Research, including scientific research, as well as books on various ways, pluses and minuses, and effective ways of fostering students' talent and teaching children are out there, but for some reason the author believes that she knows better. Also, the back cover says it is about "HOW TO" become a Tiger Mother, referring to a Chinese mom so I am confused why the author & reviewers repeatedly pronounce there is no how to dimension to this book. The opening also reads very much like a how to--in language even more on the nose of how you'd perceive a cliche 'how to' to read than a well written how to.

Overall, an odd book that made me feel sympathy for the author & her daughters & wonder why this didn't stay a very rough, private diary & if she will ever be open to listening to the many people who tell her, including in the book, that she contradicts herself & lacks enough self-awareness to participate in more healthy, positive behavioral patterns & to truly allow her children to grow & to grow herself.

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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jessie2

Posted February 23, 2011

more from this reviewer

HORRIFYING

SMUG LOOK AT A WOMAN WHO NEEDS A SERIOUS LESSON IN PARENTING, I DON'T CARE IF SHE IS CHINESE OR "WESTERN." HER PARENTING BASICALLY ADDS UP TO CHILD ABUSE.

I KNOW THE CULTURE AS I HAVE BEEN TO CHINA AND HAVE ADOPTED ONE OF THEIR UNWANTED GIRLS. MY CHINESE DAUGHTER WHO WAS THROWN AWAY BECAUSE SHE WAS VERY SICK WILL HAVE MORE OPPORTUNITIES IN LIFE THAN THESE POOR LITTLE RICH GIRLS WHO WERE PRESSURED BEYOND BELIEF TO DO THINGS THEY DIDN'T WANT TO DO.

AS A TEACHER I HAVE DEALT WITH SOME OF THESE CHILDREN WHO ARE CRYING, NERVOUS WRECKS IF THEY DON'T ACHIEVE 100% OR MORE. KIDS THAT CAN'T DO ANYTHING BUT STUDY. MAYBE THIS ROTE STRUCTURED LIFESTYLE WORKS IN CHINA, BUT IT IS NOT A PART OF OUR BELIEFS IN THE"WESTERN" WORLD. PERHAPS MS. CHUA SHOULD HAVE TAKEN HER CHILDREN BACK TO CHINA, STRAPPED THEM IN A CHAIR UNTIL THEY WERE POTTY TRAINED AND HAVE THEM MARCH AROUND A SCHOOL YARD.

FOR ME, I WELCOME MY HIGH ACHIEVING CHILDRENS'DIFFERNCES. I GAVE THEM CHOICES AND THEY HACE EXCELLED.

WHERE WAS DAD WHEN ALL OF THIS WAS GOING ON? WHY DIDN'T HE "MAN UP" AND PUT SOME JOY INTO HIS DAUGHTER'S LIVES?

ONE MORE THING, LULU YOU ROCK!

4 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
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A_Rose-Rober

Posted February 9, 2011

Compelling, strange, and definitely recommended

I originally did not intend to read this book, feeling it was not worth the effort but after reading some reviews and Amy Chua's appearance on the Colbert Report I was compelled to read it. It was unreasonably short and discombobulated, the chapters and even the paragraphs jumping from one moment to another two, three, even ten years ahead or behind, but it was still a decent read that I implore parents of all walks to read. While you may be sitting there, eyebrows raised and asking yourself "how can a mother do that?" there are many things that can be taken away from this book. Values that all people should instill in their children, ideals that should be taken with a grain of salt, and several "how to make your child resent you" moments that you should be careful to avoid. To start, Amy Chua begins that she originally had intended this book to show how "Chinese" parenting is somehow superior, but was eventually "humbled" by her rebellious thirteen year old Louisa, whom was affectionately referred to as Lulu, in a restaurant in Russia after an argument over caviar. After Chua called her daughter a "barbarian", "savage", and some other harsh words, Lulu lashed out and gave her mother her opinion of her. Now I could make this a long, winded, and completely unneeded opinion drop of my views of her parenting, but as I said - it is unneeded. This is simply a memoir of one woman's plight to raise her daughters, as well as the woman's identity crisis and inability to distinguish herself, a Chinese-American, from her parents Immigrated Chinese-Americans. That is not to say I did not learn something from Chua and her memoir, I have learned that of course parents are not as perfect as they try so hard to be. I have learned that, should I ever chose to have kids, I want to instill the sort of excellence and togetherness Amy and Jed tried to instill in Sophia and Lulu. I also want to do something that Amy failed to do, instill a sense of passion and willingness to learn that she had to force upon her daughters. In short, this is definitely not a parenting book, it was originally intended to be (according to Chua's own opening paragraph "this is supposed to be a story of how Chinese parents are better at raising kids than Western ones. "But instead, it's about a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting taste of glory, and how I was humbled by a thirteen-year-old.") but after the fateful event of Russian Caviar (this story having been written the day after said event), Chua reexamined her life, her parenting of her youngest daughter, and how she realized she isn't always right but sometimes forcing your children to do something they don't want to do (the violin, in this case) can bring a positive effect into a child's life. Just don't take it too far and you will toe the line between "gratitude" and "resentment".

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted February 8, 2011

'Western' Mothers do NOT take offense, please.

Chua's book was a very easy and quick read that provided my 'Western' view of parenting with a very different point of view, which I always appreciate. I decided to read the book because of all the controversial press it has been getting. I found the book very well rounded, I thought that Chua fairly depicted her success and her biggest failures. The book was based on opinions and largely not backed by research; it was a window into another mother's life. 'Western' mothers of the world - do not be defensive to other points of view. Be open-minded, like you teach your children to be. If you are feeling defensive you should read Chua's book again and try to pin point what is making you feel defensive and evaluate what you think of your parenting style in that area. Learn and grow and allow yourself to change and adapt as life sees fit, but don't lynch another mother who is simply sharing her personal story with you. Chua doesn't even go as far to say that one way (Chinese vs. Western parenting) is right or wrong, so there is very little to take offense from. Just because she has different points of view don't lynch her or we will be back at the Salem witch trials for heaven sakes.

4 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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OneReadingMomma

Posted February 1, 2011

more from this reviewer

Extremely biased.....

If you like reading about how ignorant, lazy, fat and unmotivated Americans are to Ms. Chua, then enjoy.

4 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
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6729431

Posted January 28, 2011

Worst $13 I ever spent

I didn't read every word but I spent an hour scanning its pages. The topic of this book is one thing, but it's also terribly written. I would have rather given the $12.99 to a drug addict.

4 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted January 23, 2011

Amy Chu: "I am too smart/too sexy for you Americans"

Imagine that--that Amy Chu is such a superior being, that in the United States we ought to thank our lucky stas that such a superior being has graced the ivy walls of Yale And we ought to thank our lucky stars that such a superior being is giving Americans (the inferior race) advice, how to information, on how to raise our (she would probably use "inferior") children. And of course, Yale ought to give her tremendous salary for she is such a "superior" being giving advice / knowledge at an "inferior" institution, to "inferior" students raised by "inferior" mothers and fathers. But Amy CHu and her husband don't mind getting our "inferior" dollars for her book.

4 out of 15 people found this review helpful.
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RUAWAKE

Posted January 14, 2011

Scary!

As our pluralistic democracy is being eaten by the monolithic Chinese dragon, we understand, in the moment she sinks her teeth into our collective neck, that we've waited too long to put up a fight.

4 out of 34 people found this review helpful.
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Fantastic book - honest look at, and great tips for, the challenge of raising an intelligent accomplished child in America

Pay attention

Amy Chua Speaks the Truth

YIKES!

Could have been good....

Take a page out of this book

loved it!

Judge the book, not the philosophy.

Horrible!

PARENTING AS TEACHING

One if any

Good Read

Lacks Structure & Any True Arc

HORRIFYING

Compelling, strange, and definitely recommended

'Western' Mothers do NOT take offense, please.

Extremely biased.....

Worst $13 I ever spent

Amy Chu: "I am too smart/too sexy for you Americans"

Scary!