Maybe it was not an Asian manhood thing maybe it was just a me thing. And I became aware of the possibility that I had succumbed to an insidious kind of racial envy, that my secret quest was simply an attempt to assuage a feeling of inferiority that was mine alone. In any event, I came away from my Mactan adventure with a sense that my floating notions of what made men men needed other anchors. Something or someone always comes along and knocks it all down. At the very least, whatever gloating I could muster felt temporary and fragile, like a house of cards on a windy beach. “Big Little Man bridges geographical, temporal and cultural boundaries in a seamless narrative about what it means to be not just an Asian American male, but a man in every sense of the word.” - Hyphen MagazineĪ part of me felt unfastened and vaguely put off by the idea that stabbing someone in the face and cutting up his body amounted to proof of manhood. “Alex Tizon’s candid journey into the shifting and multiplying definitions of manliness and the masculine ideal is revelatory and sobering.” - Library Journal

“This hybrid memoir-history, written compellingly by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and professor Alex Tizon, portrays his life in deeply felt, extensively researched, and question-filled prose.” - Booklist “Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Alex Tizon offers a well-paced, engaging combo of history, memoir, and social analysis… producing a narrative that moves fluidly between subjects, settings, and gazes.” - Publisher’s Weekly

“A deft, illuminating memoir and cultural history.” - Kirkus Reviews “Fascinating… covers an impressive amount of ground.” - StarTribune “A devastating critique of contemporary American culture.” - Seattle Times

“Fresh… searingly honest.” - New York Times

Big woman little man