“when you grow up as I did, schooled in the supremacy of “face”—the figurative face, the image, reputation, honor that must be fought for and preserved at all costs—breaking free from constraints to think for oneself becomes a Herculean task.”
―
Kirstin Chen,
Counterfeit
“All of us fixate on certain kinds of cheating, while willfully ignoring other kinds.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“You don’t earn straight A’s all your life without being uncommonly competitive.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“Govern a family as you would cook a small fish—very gently.” ― Kirstin Chen, Soy Sauce for Beginners
“to share one’s secrets is to force others to bear your burden; to stay silent is to spare them.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“Ava,” she said, “that good-immigrant shit may work on white people, but it won’t work on me.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“One cannot refuse to eat just because there is a chance of being choked.” ― Kirstin Chen, Soy Sauce for Beginners
“Here in China, no task is ever deemed impossible, no demand too extreme, no deadline too tight. There’s always someone younger, scrappier, hungrier, willing to work harder, faster, longer. Need a high-speed rail station in nine hours? Or a 1,300-ton bridge in a day and half? Not” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“Here I am in Barneys (RIP), as the impatient, high-powered career woman on her lunch break; that’s me, too, at Saks, the indecisive middle manager who only recently started buying luxury; at Gucci, the flighty trophy wife; at Louis Vuitton, the spoiled heiress; and here at Nordstrom, my favorite of them all, I am the down-to-earth stay-at-home mom, which is to say, more or less myself.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“She only had to hang out with Ava a couple of times before she saw her opening. Of course Ava’s Harvard-educated doctor husband was absent and neglectful; of course she couldn’t admit that she hated being a lawyer and twisted herself into contortions downplaying her son’s developmental issues. As far as Winnie could tell, Ava’s entire life could be boiled down to this: great on paper, rotten everywhere else.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“know this is hard for you to believe, but Asian families are different from white families. We don’t talk the way you all do. I mean, we talk, of course we talk, but not about our fears, our pain, our deepest, darkest secrets.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“She'd gone to the right schools, chosen the right career, married the right partner, formed the right family - and made enormous sacrifices in the process, and yet here she was, thoroughly miserable, horrified by the prospect that her entire existence had been built on lies.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“Given all I’ve said so far, you must be wondering why I so willingly befriended her this time around. I’ll admit that at first, I was dazzled by her wealth and beauty, her extreme confidence. I suppose a part of me was still stuck in freshman year, clinging to friends like life rafts.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“Those luxury brands, they’re the villains.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“Here, in San Francisco, surrounded by professional contacts and former colleagues, I was a lawyer on extended maternity leave, on sabbatical even—a concept that had, as of late, transcended the walls of academia and infiltrated corporate life. In the last couple of years, acquaintances had taken monthslong paid leaves to travel the world, volunteer at wildlife preserves, meditate in ashrams. Here in San Francisco, I could tell myself I wasn’t so different from them.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“They said someday you’ll find / all who love are blind / Oh, when your heart’s on fire / You must realize / Smoke gets in your eyes.” ― Kirstin Chen, Soy Sauce for Beginners
“How dare the Americans arrest a helpless grandfather who was only seeking medical care. How dare they allow this upstanding businessman to pledge a five-hundred-thousand-dollar donation to one of their elite hospitals and then turn him in to law enforcement. How dare they disrespect an entire nation.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“after she’d divorced Bertrand Lewis. Her parents had been quite understandably enraged when she’d married him for a green card, so she found it strange that they seemed equally upset when she left him.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“It’s the only place for freaks like them, hucksters, con men, unicorns, queens. Winnie is the American dream, and that’s what drives everyone mad, mad, mad—that she had the gall to crash their game and win it all.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“All of us fixate on certain kinds of cheating, while willfully ignoring other kinds.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“You don’t earn straight A’s all your life without being uncommonly competitive.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“Govern a family as you would cook a small fish—very gently.” ― Kirstin Chen, Soy Sauce for Beginners
“to share one’s secrets is to force others to bear your burden; to stay silent is to spare them.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“Ava,” she said, “that good-immigrant shit may work on white people, but it won’t work on me.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“One cannot refuse to eat just because there is a chance of being choked.” ― Kirstin Chen, Soy Sauce for Beginners
“Here in China, no task is ever deemed impossible, no demand too extreme, no deadline too tight. There’s always someone younger, scrappier, hungrier, willing to work harder, faster, longer. Need a high-speed rail station in nine hours? Or a 1,300-ton bridge in a day and half? Not” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“Here I am in Barneys (RIP), as the impatient, high-powered career woman on her lunch break; that’s me, too, at Saks, the indecisive middle manager who only recently started buying luxury; at Gucci, the flighty trophy wife; at Louis Vuitton, the spoiled heiress; and here at Nordstrom, my favorite of them all, I am the down-to-earth stay-at-home mom, which is to say, more or less myself.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“She only had to hang out with Ava a couple of times before she saw her opening. Of course Ava’s Harvard-educated doctor husband was absent and neglectful; of course she couldn’t admit that she hated being a lawyer and twisted herself into contortions downplaying her son’s developmental issues. As far as Winnie could tell, Ava’s entire life could be boiled down to this: great on paper, rotten everywhere else.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“know this is hard for you to believe, but Asian families are different from white families. We don’t talk the way you all do. I mean, we talk, of course we talk, but not about our fears, our pain, our deepest, darkest secrets.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“She'd gone to the right schools, chosen the right career, married the right partner, formed the right family - and made enormous sacrifices in the process, and yet here she was, thoroughly miserable, horrified by the prospect that her entire existence had been built on lies.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“Given all I’ve said so far, you must be wondering why I so willingly befriended her this time around. I’ll admit that at first, I was dazzled by her wealth and beauty, her extreme confidence. I suppose a part of me was still stuck in freshman year, clinging to friends like life rafts.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“Those luxury brands, they’re the villains.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“Here, in San Francisco, surrounded by professional contacts and former colleagues, I was a lawyer on extended maternity leave, on sabbatical even—a concept that had, as of late, transcended the walls of academia and infiltrated corporate life. In the last couple of years, acquaintances had taken monthslong paid leaves to travel the world, volunteer at wildlife preserves, meditate in ashrams. Here in San Francisco, I could tell myself I wasn’t so different from them.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“They said someday you’ll find / all who love are blind / Oh, when your heart’s on fire / You must realize / Smoke gets in your eyes.” ― Kirstin Chen, Soy Sauce for Beginners
“How dare the Americans arrest a helpless grandfather who was only seeking medical care. How dare they allow this upstanding businessman to pledge a five-hundred-thousand-dollar donation to one of their elite hospitals and then turn him in to law enforcement. How dare they disrespect an entire nation.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“after she’d divorced Bertrand Lewis. Her parents had been quite understandably enraged when she’d married him for a green card, so she found it strange that they seemed equally upset when she left him.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
“It’s the only place for freaks like them, hucksters, con men, unicorns, queens. Winnie is the American dream, and that’s what drives everyone mad, mad, mad—that she had the gall to crash their game and win it all.” ― Kirstin Chen, Counterfeit
