Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture
A Game That Crossed Oceans. A Culture Shaped at the Table.
This groundbreaking work explores how mahjong became woven into the fabric of American life, shaping communities, identities, and social worlds across the twentieth century. Rather than focusing solely on rules or play, Annelise Heinz examines what happened around the game. Who gathered at the table, where they played, and what the game came to mean in different moments and places.
This book shows how mahjong became a form of respectable leisure, particularly for women, offering space for friendship, mutual support, philanthropy, and community organizing. Through shared play, players forged relationships that lasted decades and built organizations that reached far beyond the table.
Drawing from photographs, advertisements, popular media, and extensive oral histories, Heinz presents the first comprehensive cultural history of mahjong in the United States. The result is a richly layered account of how one game could simultaneously unite and distinguish, offering insight into American modernity, immigration, gender, and cultural memory.
This is an essential read for anyone interested in mahjong not just as a game, but as a social force that shaped American communities across generations.
