Mixed: An Anthology of Short Fiction on the Multiracial Experience

Customer Reviews:

A unique book, well worth the money

By Alika Giordano - August 28, 2006

I read a couple of positive reviews for this book and decided to buy it. Previously, the only similar book I'd read was Half and Half: Writers on Growing up Biracial and Bicultural. That book was nonfiction. What I liked about Mixed is that it is comprised of only fiction, which I've always preferred to memoirs, essays, etc. Short stories are easier for me to relate to, analyze, and explore on a more personal level. I found the stories of very high literary quality (expect nothing less from W.W. Norton). One standout is Ruth Ozeki's "The Anthropologists' Kids," which addresses the theme of mixed race and culture with such acuity and nuance that the story transcends its context and becomes a universally sympathetic tale of adolescent discontent and unrequited love. Mat Johnson's "Gift Gifting" is so brazen and gritty compared to some of the other pieces that its impact is jarringly good. I also enjoyed the elegant simplicity of the pieces by Emily Raboteau and Neela Vaswani... read more

a must-read in today's increasingly multiracial society

By Trina Beck - January 2, 2007

many generations ago, someone of my racial background-- english protestant, irish catholic, scottish, and german-- might have been considered to be "mixed." today i am just considered "white." but there are a growing number of americans whose racial backgrounds defy easy categorization in the modern terminology of race. someday, they too may find themselves with a single moniker. for now, though, they struggle with multiple identities in a society that doesn't quite know where to place them. "mixed" explores the many facets of such an existence, in a diverse collection of stories that have been expertly chosen and arranged into a cohesive whole. for me, some of the standouts were the sly humor of emily raboteau's "mrs. turner's lawn jockeys," the awkward adolescence of mamle kabu's "human mathematics," the brutal reality of kien nguyen's "the lost sparrow," and editor chandra prasad's own haunting contribution, "wayward." and danzy senna's "triad"-- the same story told three times,... read more

Very good book

By Cecilia Manthay Malin - April 24, 2013

Delivery was as promised; the book is clean and in good condition. I have read two of the short stories so far and find the writing clear. Chandra Prasad imagines varying situations that I find thought-provoking and edifying.