Interior Chinatown

by

English language

Published 2020

ISBN:
978-0-307-94847-2
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3 stars (3 reviews)

Willis Wu doesn’t perceive himself as the protagonist in his own life: he’s merely Generic Asian Man. Sometimes he gets to be Background Oriental Making a Weird Face or even Disgraced Son, but always he is relegated to a prop. Yet every day, he leaves his tiny room in a Chinatown SRO and enters the Golden Palace restaurant, where Black and White, a procedural cop show, is in perpetual production. He’s a bit player here, too, but he dreams of being Kung Fu Guy—the most respected role that anyone who looks like him can attain. Or is it?

After stumbling into the spotlight, Willis finds himself launched into a wider world than he’s ever known, discovering not only the secret history of Chinatown, but the buried legacy of his own family. Infinitely inventive and deeply personal, exploring the themes of pop culture, assimilation, and immigration—Interior Chinatown is Charles Yu’s most …

1 edition

reviewed Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

An enjoyable read

4 stars

A lite read. Sometimes hard to follow, though such is also part of Yu's charm in blending together many concepts. His craft pulls at heartstrings, a bitter salt rubbed into the wound at others. Interior Chinatown touches on issues largely known in the Asian American activist community but still barely discussed out of it, ending with the momentum of historical fact. The unique concept of the book draws in an audience to this dialogue unlike a formal academic textbook or a garage printed zine.

reviewed Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

Review of 'Interior Chinatown' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Interior Chinatown didn't rock my world. One of the ways that the author describes racism against people of Asian descent is to describe the characters in terms of stereotypical movie/TV roles they could get at different stages of life. That was interesting, but sometimes confusing (at least in audio). In addition, the author injects long lists accounting horrible legislation, which were interesting, but weird in the context of a fictional story.

reviewed Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

Review of 'Interior Chinatown' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Interior Chinatown didn't rock my world. One of the ways that the author describes racism against people of Asian descent is to describe the characters in terms of stereotypical movie/TV roles they could get at different stages of life. That was interesting, but sometimes confusing (at least in audio). In addition, the author injects long lists accounting horrible legislation, which were interesting, but weird in the context of a fictional story.