I suppose by now you've heard the brouhaha about Amy Chua and her book, "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother." Or rather, since few people have read the book so far, the brouhaha about the excerpt published in the Wall Street Journal titled "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior."

In the excerpt, Chua described her parenting techniques, which included calling her children "garbage" and preventing them from watching television or playing video games, attending sleepovers, being in a school play, complaining about not being in a school play and playing any instrument other than the violin or piano.

She once disapproved of the birthday cards her children had given her and demanded that they go back and make better ones.

She saw herself, according to the excerpt, as an antidote to the wimpy, self-indulgent American parents who let their children run all over them. These kids basically manage their own childhoods as opposed to listening to the elders, who do know better and do value achievement that will last into adulthood.

Reading the excerpt, it's hard to know where Chua's tongue is. It may be that she is criticizing her own obsessiveness to some extent; she may believe that she has overcorrected in her disdain for American parents. Apparently, in the book itself, she says that she is not now the Tiger Mother she once was. And, of course, we have no idea how the kids are doing.

One of the problems here - we'll get to the other ones - is that the excerpt was chosen by the editors of the Journal and the publishers. The editors wanted to make a sensation; the publishers want to sell books. There is no indication that the excerpt is faked in any way, just that it does not tell the whole story.

Chua herself said, in a follow-up article, "My actual book is not a how-to guide; it's a memoir, the story of our family's journey in two cultures, and my own eventual transformation as a mother. Much of the book is about my decision to retreat from the strict 'Chinese' approach, after my younger daughter rebelled at 13." Also: "The Journal basically strung together the most controversial sections of the book. And I had no idea they'd put that kind of a title on it."

Why was there such a strong reaction to the article? I can think of three reasons. First of all, a lot of parents just viscerally don't like some of the more extreme examples, like calling the kids "garbage." It seems to border on child abuse. But, as Chua said, the book is not a manual for correct child-raising techniques; it's a memoir revealing sometimes harsh truths.

Second, I think lots of American parents do worry about their kids getting away from them, not reading, uninterested in math, apathetic in all but one or two areas of life - sports, maybe, or theater (the activity of which Chua so heartily disapproves), and just endlessly socializing and shuffling dates and friends and gossip.

They wonder what went wrong. They wonder if there's something they could have done. They hear about an article by a "Tiger Mother" and they experience disapproval but also envy. Maybe I should have been tougher. Maybe if I didn't care so much whether my kids liked me. Maybe if I'd been less tired, less worried, less selfish. They don't like Chua's solution but they don't like theirs, either. What's the magic formula - and why do Asians seem to have it?

I think that's the third thing that made the book and the excerpted article so eye-catching; lots of non-Asian parents do think that, somehow, Asian moms are doing it better. Most Asian moms are, God knows, not like Chua, and do not indulge in the more extreme things that Chua confesses to doing, but still their kids are just better at stuff. This is common anecdotal material, but it's also common statistical material. Better genes? Better home life? Better nutrition?

Then something like "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior," and these fretful non-Asian parents heave a sigh of relief and think, "Well, of course, child abuse." It's a racist slur, of course, and one that I bet Chua is unhappy to have perpetuated, but I suspect it brought comfort anyway. The question remains unanswered - even among Asians the question remains unanswered - but we get to play with stereotyping, which is always dangerous fun.

LEAR (to GONERIL): Detested kite! Thou liest. My train are men of choice and rarest parts, that all particulars of duty know, and in the most exact regard support the worships of jcarroll@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page E - 6 of the San Francisco Chronicle