Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy Chua

When Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother came out in 2011, I read a number of reviews and articles about it, most of them criticizing author Amy Chua for her extremely strict style of parenting. Many reviewers were offended by how hard she pushed her daughters to excel, always expecting the highest grades, insisting that they practice their musical instruments for 4-6 hours a day, and not allowing them to participate in typical childhood rites such as sleepovers because they were a waste of valuable time. They seemed to be most offended by her rejection of her children's homemade birthday cards as not good enough, and her insistence that they re-do them. I read so many articles about the book that I felt like I didn't need to read the book itself. That all changed when I recently read Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D.Vance, which I reviewed in this blog post. Author Vance wrote briefly about how Amy Chua had been a powerful influence on him during his years at Yale Law School, and that piqued my interest in Ms. Chua and her books.

What I found while reading Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother was that Ms. Chua is a very funny writer. Although she is absolutely committed to helping her children succeed, she is also very reflective about her own motivations and considers at every step whether what she's doing is right. She pushes her kids as far as she can, but finally has to give in when her younger daughter declares her need to make her own decisions about what instrument she wants to play and other extracurricular activities she wants to explore (e.g., tennis). I found the book charming and funny, and although she may go further than most parents are willing to go, every parent could probably learn something about pushing their children a little harder.

Amy Chua. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. New York: Penguin Books, 2011. 239 pages. ISBN 9780143120582.