AMERICAN KNEES by Shawn Wong (Scribner...

AMERICAN KNEES by Shawn Wong (Scribner Paperbacks: $11; 240 pp.). Wong’s second novel examines the unrelenting awareness of ethnicity imposed by American society in the ‘90s. Raymond Ding, a 40-year-old Chinese American, struggles to fulfill both the duties of a traditional, filial son and a politically aware Asian American. He’s expected to be “. . . a brave warrior, truthful and loyal to his fellow warriors and the gods, a strong foundation, a fortress of shining light, majestic mountain peaks, a fast car with a 7/70 warranty and lifetime DieHard battery.”

He’s so busy trying to live up to the expectations of others that he neglects his own needs until he meets Aurora Crane, a lovely half-Japanese photographer. Their stormy romance forces Ding to define himself in his own terms. Scrupulously observed and gracefully written, this black comedy of intercultural manners attests to Wong’s growing skill as a writer.