Summarizing six decades of Asian American literary endeavours, Guiyou Huang's purpose in producing this reference work is to assist “both the general reader and the specialist, to benefit the teaching and study of one of the fastest-growing fields in American literature” (3). To this end, the guide is divided into four sections: a narrative overview, A–Z entries, literary criticism, and periodicals. By far the most substantial section is, of course, the A–Z, although Huang's opening essay, striking the right balance between thoroughness and stylistic accessibility, also deserves note. In this he gives proper attention to semantics and group definitions (3–4), to the immigrant history of the respective ethnic groups (4–5), and to discussion of the forms of literary expression: anthologies, autobiographies/memoirs, drama, fiction, poetry, and short fiction (9–28).

Unique among other entries in Huang's work, anthologies are not organized alphabetically but rather by publication date, a format which allows for a smooth transition between Huang's essay and the A–Z guide. Indeed, it is possible to read the anthology section as a fragmented form of essay, one which charts the discipline of Asian American studies in terms of ever-broadening inclusiveness. The rest of the book follows the expected format, each author provided with a comprehensive biographical portrait, notes on the author's principal literary productions, and suggestions for further reading. New scholars to the area will also find that Huang has helpfully pointed toward areas of potential scholarship (see 167, 215, and 221, for example).

Attempting to meet the needs of both general readers and seasoned academics requires a careful balancing act, and Huang's guide foregoes attention to the seemingly trivial or “populist” writers and publications available today. Thus Margaret Cho's comic autobiography I'm the One that I Want (2001), Kim Wong Keltner's reworking of Bridget Jones in The Dim Sum of All Things (2004), and Vickie Nam's edited anthology Yell-Oh Girls! (2001) do not make an appearance. The guide does not provide an all-inclusive list of every Asian American text written since 1945, nor is Huang much concerned with texts which explore non-American experiences (5). Instead, this is a book which tracks the development of Asian American literature, as it pertains to Asian Americans, through those principal literary texts and the authors behind them. The result is a series of interconnections between entries which, overall, reveals great cohesion in both the literature and Huang's research. Scholars and enthusiasts alike will find this guide augmenting their future reading lists and challenging curriculum boundaries.