Gish Jen, 'The Girl At The Baggage Claim'

Continuing the insightful cross-cultural exploration she began in Tiger Writing, a collection of essays adapted from her Harvard Massey Lectures, Jen, an award-winning novelist, uses a combination of social science and her own experiences as the daughter of Chinese immigrants to map key distinctions between Asian and Western perspectives. While an American might equate identity with the self, for instance, an Asian would define the individual by his or her role in a family or community. From there, Jen shows, come the contrasting ways Asians and Westerners view society, politics, art, business, and a wide range of other matters.

Produced by Tom Warren