Leonard Chang
Encyclopedia
Leonard Chang is a Korean American
writer of short stories
and novel
s.
His short stories have appeared in a variety of literary journals including The Crescent Review, The Literary Review, and Prairie Schooner. His first novel was The Fruit 'N Food (1996), winner of the Black Heron Press Award for Social Fiction, a story about a loner who finds employment in a New York
grocery; major themes involve race relations and violence. His other novels include Dispatches from the Cold (1998), and Over The Shoulder (2001), a mystery
/noir, the first in a trilogy about his Korean American private-eye protagonist, Allen Choice. Other novels in that trilogy are: Underkill (2003) and Fade To Clear (2004).
Chang's work is unusual in the canon of Asian American
literature because of the level of assimilation many of his Korean American characters have achieved. His characters tend to be second generation Americans, often with few ties to their ethnic origins. His later works deal less with race relations than with character-driven issues, such as with Allen Choice, whose name ("Choice" changed from the Korean "Choi" by his father) denotes the shift in ethnic identity and themes.
Chang's experiments in crime fiction is related to this shift, since the stories revolve around solving a mystery or crime, and despite the fact that the protagonist is Korean American, the debt here is more to crime and noir writers like Raymond Chandler
, Dashiell Hammett
, and Ross Macdonald
.
Chang's work is constantly evolving, and what seems to differentiate his work from others of his generation is his singular focus on detailing the Korean American experience as distinctly American. His last novel, entitled Crossings, published in 2009, brings together many of the themes and issues of his previous work, and centers around a love story between recent Korean immigrants, while tackling the harsh circumstances of illegal immigration and human trafficking.
Chang has stated in interviews that his newest book, to be published in 2013, is a highly autobiographical novel about his childhood on Long Island.
Korean American
Korean Americans are Americans of Korean descent, mostly from South Korea, with a small minority from North Korea...
writer of short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
and novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s.
His short stories have appeared in a variety of literary journals including The Crescent Review, The Literary Review, and Prairie Schooner. His first novel was The Fruit 'N Food (1996), winner of the Black Heron Press Award for Social Fiction, a story about a loner who finds employment in a New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
grocery; major themes involve race relations and violence. His other novels include Dispatches from the Cold (1998), and Over The Shoulder (2001), a mystery
Mystery fiction
Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...
/noir, the first in a trilogy about his Korean American private-eye protagonist, Allen Choice. Other novels in that trilogy are: Underkill (2003) and Fade To Clear (2004).
Chang's work is unusual in the canon of Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
literature because of the level of assimilation many of his Korean American characters have achieved. His characters tend to be second generation Americans, often with few ties to their ethnic origins. His later works deal less with race relations than with character-driven issues, such as with Allen Choice, whose name ("Choice" changed from the Korean "Choi" by his father) denotes the shift in ethnic identity and themes.
Chang's experiments in crime fiction is related to this shift, since the stories revolve around solving a mystery or crime, and despite the fact that the protagonist is Korean American, the debt here is more to crime and noir writers like Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
, Dashiell Hammett
Dashiell Hammett
Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , and the Continental Op .In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on...
, and Ross Macdonald
Ross Macdonald
Not to be confused with John D. MacDonaldRoss Macdonald is the pseudonym of the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar...
.
Chang's work is constantly evolving, and what seems to differentiate his work from others of his generation is his singular focus on detailing the Korean American experience as distinctly American. His last novel, entitled Crossings, published in 2009, brings together many of the themes and issues of his previous work, and centers around a love story between recent Korean immigrants, while tackling the harsh circumstances of illegal immigration and human trafficking.
Chang has stated in interviews that his newest book, to be published in 2013, is a highly autobiographical novel about his childhood on Long Island.
See also
- List of Korea-related topics
- Grew up in Merrick, New YorkMerrick, New YorkMerrick is a hamlet in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, USA. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 22,097. The name "Merrick" is taken from Meroke, the name of the Algonquian tribe formerly indigenous to the area...
- Went to Sanford H. Calhoun High SchoolSanford H. Calhoun High SchoolSanford H. Calhoun High School is a high school located in Merrick, New York, United States. It is one of three high schools in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District...
- Graduated from Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and University of California, IrvineUniversity of California, IrvineThe University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
M.F.A. program. Also studied at Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
. - Currently teaching at Antioch University Los AngelesAntioch University Los AngelesAntioch University Los Angeles is a small private liberal arts school currently located in Culver City, California. The school is a campus of Antioch University.-Background:Antioch College was founded in 1852 in Yellow Springs, Ohio...