In the past fifty years, according to Christine So, the narratives of many popular Asian American books have been dominated by economic questions-what money can buy, how money is lost, how money is circulated, and what labor or objects are worth. Focusing on books that have achieved mainstream popularity,
Economic Citizens
shows that while Asian Americans have been excluded from the larger national body-in fact, prohibited from circulation-Asian American books that emphasize economic and social exchange circulate widely. With penetrating insight, So examines literary works that have been successful in the U.S. marketplace but have been read previously by critics largely as narratives of alienation or assimilation, including
Fifth Chinese Daughter
,
Flower Drum Song
Falling Leaves
and
Turning Japanese
. In contrast to other studies that have focused on the invisibility of Asian Americans,
examines how Asian Americans have entered into the public sphere.