This lyrical collection explores the diversity of the Asian American experience while experimenting with form, language, metaphor, and myth.  From the story of a goddess fleeing the civil war in Cambodia who is picked up by a Coast Guard ship and interrogated by uncomprehending INS officials to that of the biracial children of a Nebraska farmer and his Filipino showgirl wife coping with the loss of their mother as well as their father’s way of life in their small farming community, Glamorous Asians provides an unusual glimpse into a world often left unexplored.

“May-lee Chai is a gifted young writer whose scalpel-sharp wit cuts through the heart of immigrant America. In this wonderful new addition to Asian-American literature, Chai explores the mysteries--and brutal realities--of invisible lives, of people misunderstood or simply ignored by mainstream culture, by giving voice to their unfulfilled dreams, secret ambitions, and hidden triumphs. This collection sings with despair, rage, exhaustion--and hope.”

- Iris Chang

the New York Times' author of The Rape of Nanking & The Chinese in America