Article New Yorker: How Giant Robot Captured Asian America

I remember writer, Hua Hsu when he was a motivated college student at or around the time when his experiences brought him to the writing of his award winning novel Stay True. 

Back in the 90s, at a zine panel on the campus of UC Davis, I believe it was he who called out some in the audience and maybe the entire panel discussion for minimizing any zine or zine maker who wasn’t Giant Robot on the panel. He was right. He was sharp and impressive to call this out. Me being a selfish youngster and Giant Robot, I was blind to it. 

Today, Hua Hsu writes about Giant Robot and I’m honored to be the subject and a recipient of his crafted words.

n a short amount of text, he encapsulates our tiny corner of the world. 

How Giant Robot

Captured Asian America

The magazine explored Asian American culture, without dwelling too much on what that meant.

By Hua Hsu

November 24, 2024

The first issue of the magazine Giant Robot I ever came across

featured the Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai on the cover

—this was enough to stand out on a crowded newsstand in the midnineteen-

nineties. But what caught my attention were the teasers for a

random assortment of other stories, about gangs, surfing, shaved ice,

orgies. A small tagline in the top right corner read “A magazine for you.”

But who was I? I was a teen-ager and desperate to know. I suspected

Giant Robot could help me figure it out. 

Continues: New Yorker