Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charlie Chan Is Dead 2: At Home in the World | 2004 | Ruth Ozeki | Buy |
| 2 | Mixed: An Anthology of Short Fiction on the Multiracial Experience | 2006 | Ruth Ozeki | Buy |
Ruth Ozeki’s two anthology appearances both place her within discussions of Asian-American and multiracial literary identity that were particularly active in the early 2000s. Charlie Chan Is Dead 2: At Home in the World (2004) is the sequel to Jessica Hagedorn’s influential 1993 anthology, continuing its project of documenting the range and vitality of Asian-American fiction at a moment when that category was expanding and diversifying rapidly.
Mixed: An Anthology of Short Fiction on the Multiracial Experience (2006), edited by Chandra Prasad, collected fiction by writers navigating multiple racial identities, and Ozeki’s Japanese-American background and her novels’ recurring interest in mixed cultural experience made her a natural fit. Her fiction has always dealt with what it means to be between categories — national, racial, and otherwise — so these anthology appearances reflect real thematic alignment rather than just opportunistic inclusion.
Both books remain useful introductions to Asian-American and multiracial literary fiction from that period and are worth seeking out by readers interested in the broader context of Ozeki’s work.