BOUND FEET & WESTERN DRESS

A first-generation Chinese-American college student is suffering acute alienation. Is she of the West, of China, some hybrid or what? Where in the world does she belong? In many conversations with her old aunt--a brilliant, courageous woman who helped pioneer changes that turned China modern--she finds many illuminating parallels to her own situation. This book, written and read here by the niece, ping-pongs between her own reflections and her aunt's oral autobiography. Chang writes better than she reads, though her narrative, brief as it is, suffers from numerous redundancies and solecisms. Still, the aunt's powerful story carries both her prose and her recitation. Michael Toms of New Dimensions Media interviews her on the last side. Y.R. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: MAR/APR 98]