Chua's daughters could only play the piano or violin.

The Wall Street Journal published an excerpt from Chua's book last week that made her sound like a terrifying, selfish mother, who appeared to want nothing more than children who were anti-social and obedient. 

In the excerpt, she even supports her strict parenting style with statistics. That essay has since generated thousands of angry comments, counter-columns, emails and media coverage.

But Chua said at Vroman's and in interviews that the passage published in the Wall Street Journal was written in a tongue-in-cheek, self-mocking tone.  

The memoir is actually about Chua's journey of becoming a more lenient mother.  

In other words, it's just another story of someone with extreme behavior who learns to act a little less extreme at the end.  A story that becomes pointless by the time you finish it.  

"The excerpt [published in The Wall Street Journal] really didn't convey that it was a memoir, because the title, ["Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior,"] made it seem like it was a parenting book," Chua said to a crowd of about 100 or so people Tuesday night.

For example, despite her praising of obedience in the book, she said there is actually an underlying theme about the importance of rebellion.

"They're my words, I stand by them, its just that they're sort of out of context, so people don't know that there's an arc to the book" she said. "So that kind of confident, annoying voice is much more like the person I was 18 years ago." 

She explained that the book is told from the point of view of an unreliable narrator, who doesn't realize at the time how ridiculous her opinions are.

"If you read my book, you realize I give my daughters the best lines."

Most in the crowd seemed to be fans of the book, or at least weren't as angry as the people who left so many comments on her essay. 

One audience member, though, criticized parents who mandate what their children's hobbies should be, saying that this ultimately produces "robots." 

"I actually kind of agree with you, " Chua said. "I don't think that's my methodology, to force kids to do something they dont want."

She explained that she eventually let her more rebellious daughter quit the violin to play tennis instead. 

Another audience member told Chua that it's difficult to tell which parts of the book are supposed to be satirical, and which parts are supposed to be taken seriously.  She asked Chua if an editor went through those potentially confusing parts. 

"No, it's unedited," Chua said. "I mean, some people aren't going to like the writing style. That's just a matter of taste."

Unlike her Wall Street Journal essay, which made her sound like a horrible mother, Chua sounded in person like a strict but open-minded mother, one that was nice, but with nothing particularly special to say, and one whose book I had absolutely no desire to buy.  

"I think there are many different ways that people can be great parents," she said.

It was a nice, reasonable, and incredibly boring thing to say.  

Reach reporter Amy Silverstein here.

Photo by crazybobbles