Amy Chua: Life of a Tiger Mother

ABOUT THE BOOK

Amy Chua was a wellrespected and highprofile Yale Law Professor who published two bestsellers yet, no one seemed to have taken much notice of her. Then everything changed. In January, 2011 Chua published her explosive memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, which propelled her into the spotlight. Within weeks, Amy Chua was on Time.com 's top ten list of the most thoughtprovoking, angerinducing, and viral viewpoints of the year. Before 2011 ended, she was nominated one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.

In Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Amy Chua details her own unique take on parenting and uses her own family model as proof that Chinese mothers raise successful children. Chua argues that although people hesitate to accept the notion of cultural stereotypes in parenting, the truth is that many studies support significant measurable differences in parenting between Chinese and Westerners. The book created a firestorm of controversy and sparked a robust and active dialogue about how cultural styles impact upbringing.

Although Chua offered the disclaimer that being a “Chinese mother” does not mean you must be Chinese in ethnicity, but simply a parent who ignores the style of parenting that has become common in Western societies, a Wall Street Journal excerpt that appeared the day prior to the book's release fanned the flames of controversy and linked the topic firmly with Chinese culture. Entitled Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior, the essay elicited an astounding 8,800 comments in response from readers, some offering praise, but most vilifying Amy Chua as a parent.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Debbie J. is an experienced writer and a member of the Hyperink Team, which works hard to bring you high-quality, engaging, fun content. Happy reading!

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK

Amy L. Chua was born October 26, 1962, in Champaign, Illinois. Her Chinese immigrant parents came to the United States from the Philippines in 1961, eloping together to pursue advanced degrees at MIT. They were extremely strict, but loving. Amy Chua was the eldest of four girls. Amy and her sisters Michelle, Katrin, and Cynthia (Cindy) were raised in the Roman Catholic faith, and lived in West Lafayette, Indiana. Chua recalls that her father worked until three in the morning to make a good life for his family, and that he took great pleasure in introducing his family to American pastimes and activities such as tacos, Sloppy Joes, Dairy Queen, sledding, skiing, camping. The day her parents became naturalized citizens is a moment Amy Chua recalls with great pride.

Her parents both grew up in the Philippines under Japanese occupation, and came to the States after celebrating liberation under General Douglas MacArthur. Although her father's family was very wealthy, her mother came from a poor but intellectual family. The Chua family's reenactment of the American dream is a theme woven through Chua's second book. Her father, Leon Ong Chua, was born June 28, 1936. After earning his first degree in the Philippines in 1959, he came to the United States on a scholarship, eventually completing his PhD at the University of Illinois in 1964.

While the family lived in Indiana, he was an academic at Purdue University. When Amy was eight years old, the family moved to Berkeley, California, where Leon Chua became Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences professor at the University of California in Berkeley. He is known for formulating the Memristor theory in 1971, a method of memory resistance through use of a passive twoterminal electrical component. He is also considered the father of nonlinear circuit theory and cellular neural networks, and invented Chua's circuit. He has since been awarded eight honorary doctorates, and remains active in research and writing.

CHAPTER OUTLINE

…and much more