Amy Chua's recently published book about her own maternal experiences, as a Chinese mother raising her two daughters in the US, has raised the back hairs of many American mothers. Chua views American child-rearing as soft and spineless, much too forgiving and supportive in comparison to the "Chinese way" which is tough and demanding. The book is both confessional and exhibitionistic, but in the end I thought, rather moving. Chua assigns her two daughters to the piano and violin (one each) and supervises their musical development obsessively and continuously. Many "normal" childhood activities are proscribed for these two girls--sports,sleep-overs and other extra-curricular activities.

Her first daughter accepts this treatment-which does, after all, involve a lot of maternal attention-but her second daughter starts raising hell when she reaches adolescence. Chua is very psychologically naïve about adolescent needs and behaviors, as well as differences in temperament between children. She does not really examine her own behaviors or motives, which are occasionally quite shocking but, rather, attributes them to "being a good Chinese mother."