SOURCE: Jen, Gish, and Martha Satz. “Writing About the Things That Are Dangerous: A Conversation with Gish Jen.” Southwest Review 78, no. 1 (winter 1993): 132-40.

In the following interview, conducted in November 1991, Jen discusses multiculturalism, the immigrant experience, and the nature of identity in America.

Interviewer's note: In November 1991, I interviewed Gish Jen on the occasion of the publication of her first novel, Typical American. The novel deals with a young Chinese man, Ralph Chang, who comes to do graduate work in engineering and pursue the American Dream as he understands it in China. In this country, he is reunited with his sister Theresa and marries her friend Helen. Much of their lives is a series of misadventures and disasters. Their idea of America and the American Dream is continually changed and ultimately transformed.

[Satz]: I wanted to ask you about the choice of a male protagonist for your first...