Water Mirror Echo

Jeff Chang’s first book, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, was named one of the best American nonfiction books of the last quarter century. He has been a USA Ford Fellow in Literature and, among numerous other honors, has won the American Book Award and the Asian American Literary Award. Chang has written three other acclaimed bestsellers on American history and culture, music, and the arts. In May 2019, he and director Bao Nguyen created a four-episode digital series adaptation of his award-winning book We Gon’ Be Alright for PBS Indie Lens Storycast. Chang was featured in Nguyen’s ESPN Bruce Lee documentary, Be Water; the PBS series, Asian Americans; and Lisa Ling’s CNN series, This Is Life.

"A uniquely American origin story.... With a probing pen born from decades as a prominent music and culture journalist ... Chang artfully blends Lee's life story and Asian American history with the skill and touch of a hip-hop DJ. As Lee's life story spins on one turntable, Chang adds in the social and political conditions of the time — racism, immigration and war — as the backbeat, artfully weaving and crossfading between the two.... Water Mirror Echo shows [the] evolution of an icon and the birth of a nation with rhythm and receipts." — San Francisco Chronicle"[A] panoramic biography.... Peppering the narrative with rich historical details and poignant analyses, Chang persuasively argues that Lee’s presence on screen helped shape the idea of what it means to be Asian in America. This definitive account cements Chang as a preeminent chronicler of Asian American history." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)"This expansive biography of an iconic actor doubles as a nuanced history of Asian American empowerment. Chang ... adeptly shows how Lee’s magnetism and physical talents, showcased in Enter the Dragon and other beloved action movies, helped spur 'an awakening among racialized minorities.' ... Chang relates these details against a shifting set of crisply depicted backdrops, from 1960s Asian American student activism to the stylistic debates that shaped martial arts during Lee’s time. ... A rousing portrait of a charismatic actor who redefined global stardom." — Kirkus Reviews"This meticulously sourced, image-rich biography of Bruce Lee comes along at a time when America’s leadership is disturbingly bullish on re-entrenching the racial barriers and retrograde anti-Asian views that Lee once confronted. But this book isn’t about an icon or a savior, rather the lesser-known facets of his identity — immigrant, fighter, seeker, teacher and ally — that drove the man Chang calls 'the global hero of the underdog' to unite Asian and American culture with an incendiary combination of spiritual tradition and undeniable cool. Water Mirror Echo uses a wealth of primary sources and archival material to reinscribe Lee’s legacy." — Salon"I didn’t realize what I didn’t know about Bruce Lee until I read Jeff Chang’s Water Mirror Echo. His portrait of Bruce Lee is epic and deeply personal, recasting this icon as a flawed yet empowering figure who seismically changed Asian America. Chang updates and imbricates Lee’s complicated life within America’s history of racism, giving new depth to the man, the community, and the world he helped to change. Water Mirror Echo is a revelation and a stunning accomplishment." — Cathy Park Hong, author of Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning"Water Mirror Echo thrives not just as an ode, or a tome of cultural appreciation, but also as a rich analysis of the history within, and the landscape upon which a cultural icon can be formed, can be shaped, can be beloved. This book is as celebratory as it is incisive, as it is, at times, heartbreaking. A massive achievement." — Hanif Abdurraqib, National Book Award-winning author of There's Always This Year and A Little Devil in America"Water Mirror Echo is a remarkable story of a man, the traditions and communities that created him, and the new worlds he made possible. Like Bruce Lee himself, Jeff Chang is blessed with the vision to see things we do not yet see, thinking and writing with a restless, chasm-crossing, almost prophetic ambition." — Hua Hsu, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Stay True: A Memoir"Jeff Chang's singular gift is his ability to balance intimacy and grandeur — to tell the story of a movement, a nation, a generation simply by telling the story of a man. Precise, incisive, thoughtful and compassionate, he is the most important cultural historian of our time, and Water Mirror Echo is a brilliant addition to his corpus." — Adam Mansbach, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Golem of Brooklyn and Go the F*ck to Sleep"In Water Mirror Echo, Jeff Chang crafts a deeply intimate yet expansive portrait of Bruce Lee, seamlessly blending personal narrative with the larger-than-life impact of Lee’s legacy. Chang delves into the private struggles and quiet moments of Lee’s life, capturing the man behind the myth while also exploring how his extraordinary journey shaped the Asian American experience. With heartfelt nuance, the book reveals Lee’s lasting influence, not only as a cultural icon but as a symbol of resilience, pride, and the fight for identity in a complex world." — Bao Nguyen, filmmaker and director of Be Water"With the number of words written about him, Bruce Lee is up there with the likes of Jesus Christ and Muhammad Ali. And keeping all those words and perspectives about Bruce in mind, Jeff Chang has done the impossible. He has found something new to say about Bruce Lee. And in the process he has gone deeper than all the rest. Jeff Chang has written the definitive biography of Bruce Lee.”  — W. Kamau Bell, Peabody- and Emmy-award winning television producer, stand-up comedian, and co-author of Do the Work! An Antiracist Activity Book"Chang has masterfully crafted a riveting, nuanced and complex portrait of an icon. He tracks Bruce Lee’s remarkable journey as a charismatic child star turned delinquent teen fighter in Hong Kong, to his lonely and humbling exile to America. Chang not only offers one of the most powerful and thoroughly human looks at the flawed but vulnerable man behind the myth, but of an America that continues to question our right as Asian Americans simply to exist in this country." — Olivia Cheng, actor and star of Bruce Lee’s Warrior"Chang, a hip-hop scholar (“Can’t Stop Won’t Stop”) and activist, places his subject in the context of Asian American identity and pride. Tracing Lee’s journey from youth in Hong Kong to his rise to Western stardom to his death at the age of 32, Chang reveals both the global icon and the complex human being who helped put martial arts on the American map." — Los Angeles Times in its "30 Must-Read Books for Summer" Round-up "In Jeff Chang’s epic new biography of Lee, Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America, the author disregards the arcane debates one might hear among fanboys or critics and instead prioritizes who Lee actually was at various points of a brief cultural history. While others have focused overmuch on Lee’s early death and how it supercharged his transformation into a worldwide phenomenon, Chang instead takes us through the chapters of Lee’s short life, the internal and external battles he overcame, and also the ones he didn’t." — Alta Book Review