In Days of Distraction, the narrator's boyfriend, J, is applying to PhD programs.  Although they would love to stay in San Francisco, they both know that they will probably have to move somewhere else.  The narrator begins to explore her identity and what it means to be Chinese American.  She examines her identity in the context of her job (in a heavily male-dominated field) and her relationship with a white man.

Typically books with long sections are more difficult for me to get through, but I really enjoyed the fragmented writing in Days of Distraction.  The small snippets of the narrator's life feel like you are reading her thoughts instead of a story.  I also like how historical documents are woven into the text as the narrator explores the history of mixed race couples while contemplating the fate of her own relationship.