NONFICTION - April 3, 1994

CULTURAL REVOLUTION by Norman Wong (Persea Books: $21; 177 pp.) Over the last 10 or so years, collections of short stories linked by the same characters have become a kind of sub-genre. Norman Wong’s, “Cultural Revolution” is mostly concerned with Michael, who is gay and Chinese. We see him at various stages of his life trying to come to terms with his sexuality and family; a hostile father, a frightened crackly mother, withdrawn older sister. The book also moves through the past into his parent’s first meeting, and the childhood of Wei, Michael’s father.

Wong’s writing can be incredibly evocative, such as this description of orchids: “Earlike shapes of colors that are not quite colors, pinks brighter than pink, dark whites, and yellows. . . . The larger flowers shoot upwards; the smaller ones rain down in clusters. Michael waits for them to make a sound. In their clay pots, tightly twined twigs hold down their veiny, hard roots, so much like scary fingers.” Ironically, the strongest pieces here are the few without Michael. “Robbed,” a quiet heartbreaker of a story is about his parents repeatedly aborting girl babies while they wait for a son. In “Open House,” a Chinese woman’s desire to be a property owner dictates every aspect of her life, especially marriage. This is not to say the Michael stories don’t work since Wong’s writing is accomplished, his characters engaging. It’s just that as soon as Michael comes on the scene the work feels almost imperceptibly strident as if a subtle, private agenda needs to be filled.