';Typical American is indeed an American story, and Gish Jen's immensely intelligent, thunderously funny, truly heartbreaking novel is perhaps the best story of contemporary immigrant experience ever to grace our literature.' --Jayne Anne Phillips A marvelously insightful roller coaster ride to the dark heart of the American dream. Compounded by heartbreaking humor and exhilarating tragedy, it rings true as the stories my own relatives would recite in hushed tones around the adult banquet table. --David Henry Hwang