As of March 12, 2011 (the cutoff date for my analysis), there were a total of 368 Amazon reviews of Chua's Tiger Mother book. Of these, by my reading, 42 were by people who identified themselves as Chinese Americans. In order to write an Amazon review you must assign a certain number of stars to the book. One star means you strongly dislike the book; two means you dislike it; three means you are neutral; four means you like it; and five means you strongly like it. Based on these ratings, the Chinese American reviewers were two-fold more likely to strongly dislike or dislike the book than were other reviewers. Here are the percentages--in each case I give the percentage for Chinese reviewers first and that for the other reviewers second:

1 star:    40.5% vs. 20.9%
2 stars:  11.9% vs.   5.8%
3 stars:    2.4% vs. 11.7%
4 stars:    9.5% vs. 15.0%
5 stars:  35.7% vs. 46.6%

Polarized reactions to the book are reflected in these data, for both the Chinese and non-Chinese reviewers. In both groups, most people gave the book either 1 star or 5; few felt lukewarm about it. However, the Chinese group gave the book more 1-star reviews than 5-star reviews, while the non-Chinese group gave the book more than twice as many 5-star reviews as 1-star reviews.

My reading of the positive reviews indicated to me that those Chinese American reviewers who gave the book 5 stars generally like it for the same reasons that other 5-star reviewers do. Few in this category claimed to approve of the extremity of Chua's parenting methods, but many felt that the book provides a good balance to what they perceive as over-permissive Western parenting practices. Some of the Chinese-American 5-star reviewers said they liked the book despite strongly disapproving of Chua's parenting methods. They liked it because of Chua's "honesty" and "humor" in describing what she did and/or because it helped them understand why their own parents treated them as they did.

Here, however, my focus is on the Chinese-Americans' 1-star reviews. Most of these were written with great passion and eloquence, by people who obviously feel strongly moved to separate themselves, as far as possible, from Chua. Some are several pages long and would be terrific blog essays by themselves. Here I present just a snippet from each review, organized into three categories: (1) reviews by people who are products of "Tiger parenting" or have witnessed others who had such parenting; (2) other reviews that focus on negative consequences of such parenting or on Chua's misplaced values; and (3) reviews that focus on Chua's stereotyping of Chinese parenting methods.

Reviews by People Who Were Products of "Tiger" Parenting, or Who Witnessed Its Effects in Others

• "Having been the product of such parenting and as a ‘failure' by these ‘Chinese' standards, I have much to say. ... This method of parenting is very close to dictatorships in the past or to oppressive parties, in how they impose their will upon others. This book may have been a last ditch attempt to resurrect the hands on, suffocating, coercive, and never ending demands style of parenting that some Chinese parents (not all) have done at some point in time. ... The biggest problem is that most kids need to explore and understand for themselves what is truly important in their lives. Not every child will grow being a happy professor, doctor, and lawyer and then go to their parents and say, ‘Thanks mom and dad for driving me so hard to achieve these goals.' This is why some people, too depressed from this type of parenting, end up committing suicide or losing motivation to drive him or herself forward, because they did not develop their own capability to drive themselves. .... If people think the ‘Chinese' method can create another Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Peter Drucker, Albert Einstein, Ludwig van Beethoven or another visionary person who all of history will celebrate for ages, then they are gravely mistaken. From my experience, the ‘Chinese' method of childrearing only worked for the first 18 years or so; then everything fell apart with myself suffering a period of hopelessness and despair."

• "As a person born in China back in the 80's and raised in a family with a similar father, though less abusive, I have to say the F word straight to her face! ... She is very clever at selling books, but low or lacking in humanity. She isn't rare for Chinese parenting, even though she isn't Chinese at all. It proves that abusive parents are everywhere, not limited to China. [In] my generation, abusive parenting was very common in China; slapping your children, beating them up with any weapons were not unheard of. The result? Lots of children committed suicide or had to swallow anti-depressant pills each day when they grew up. Prodigy? Nah, I haven't seen a single one among my abused Chinese classmates. ... [T]he academic fame Amy Chua has allowed her to sell her book more quickly than everyone else. Imagine if a nobody wrote a book talking about abusing her daughters; she'd probably be tried for child abuse."

• "I am Chinese American. I had a Tiger Mom. Yes, I recognize the cultural similarities. ... Yes, I had parents who criticized an A on a paper rather than an A+. ...Ms. Chua's ‘insights" are merely for show. There is no critical evaluation of her own motivations, nor any attempt at inquiry at whether her children truly are happy. Merely a laundry list of accomplishments to add to the author's formidable curriculum vitae."

• "I have witnessed several of my very outstanding friends with successful careers, who are still deeply struggling with the negative impacts from their childhood. ... Among them, Chinese or Americans, there is one thing in common -- a narcissistic mother who believes that she owns her child. Our children come through us, but not from us. Each child is a life of his or her own and one that each parent should respect and cherish."

• "I am from Taiwan. I spent the weekend reading two books. One is Amy Chua's ‘Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother' in English and the other one is ‘Thank you, my son---A father's regret' in Chinese by Mr. Jing, who is also a professor in Taiwan. The latter story is sad; Mr. Jing exercised strict parenting in his family and insulted his elder son on his bad grades like Amy Chua did. The pain actually rooted in the son's heart. Then, when the son was 24 years old and left Taiwan in 2007, he emailed to his family not to email him or call him anymore. In short, he decided to disconnect his family since he cannot bear the words, of killing his self-esteem, from his family members who love him most and hurt him most."

Other Reviews Focusing on the Negative Effects of Such Parenting and on Chua's Misplaced Values