Before Diana Abu-Jaber published Arabian Jazz in 1993, Arab American writers had produced a significant amount of poetry, autobiographical works, and short stories. Although some writers had written novels, their work did specifically address Arab American themes. publication of novels that explored lives of Arab Americans seemed to be next step in growth of literature. Perhaps literary anticipation as well as need of Arab Americans to represent themselves in a positive light raised expectations that preceded Abu-Jaber's novel to an unrealistic degree. issue of representation dominated Arab American response to Arabian Jazz. In one review, Elaine Hagopian dismisses literary merit of novel, choosing instead to point out that content represents a stereotype of a stereotype with quite a number of implausible (1). Hagopian goes on to highlight several factual inaccuracies in book with regards to religion, characters' names, and historical events. A large part of her argument focuses on behavior of Arab characters; she claims that their actions are unrealistic and can therefore distort reader's understanding of Arab culture. Although Hagopian's critique raises important issues, her focus on inaccuracies in novel leaves little room for looking at Arabian Jazz as a fictional work. Certainly Arab Americans were right to be concerned that novel might be read as an accurate portrayal of Arab culture. I recall one American reader who raved about how much she enjoyed novel, ending with statement that now she felt she truly understood Arab culture. Abu-Jaber herself is aware of how concern with representation has affected reception of her novel. She says, There's also sense that ... Arab-Americans have been so maltreated by media, their image has been so dark, that I think there's a real anxiety about artistic representations that are out there (Shalal-Esa 6). question becomes to what extent should a writer cater to reader's tendency to read a novel as if it were a sociological or anthropological text. Certainly, Arabian Jazz is only novel to be caught in this dilemma. Hong Kingston's novel Woman Warrior met with similar responses. In her review of book, Katheryn Fong criticized Kingston because she does not totally represent identity of all Chinese American women (67). She goes on to discuss lack of historical information in book and negative portrayal of girls in Chinese culture. Yet Fong does seem aware that a large part of dilemma lies in how book will be received by readers: The problem is that non-Chinese are reading your fiction as true accounts of Chinese American history .... Your one experience, your one story, becomes definitive description of all of (67). In her article, Maxine Hong Kingston: Ethnic Writer and Burden of Dual Authenticity, Deborah Woo looks at reception of Woman Warrior within larger context of how ethnic writers carry the burden of being viewed narrowly as spokespersons for experience (173). result, she argues, is that 'ethnic' writers ... find their voices muted by readings which only allow for generalizations about ethnic experience (173). responses to Arabian Jazz and Woman Warrior are clear examples of this as Abu-Jaber and Kingston found themselves accused of presenting an inaccurate cultural experience. There is much at stake here: representation of Arab Americans, censorship imposed on minority writers by their community's expectations, and way novel is itself defined. Surely expectations we place on anthropological and social texts should be applied to novels. A novel is a place where writer can take fictional leaps and re-imagine reality. By judging Abu-Jaber's novel on how accurately it reflects reality of Arab and Arab American culture, we miss what novel attempts to show us through its fictional story. …