The story takes you on a surrealist coming-of-age journey told entirely in the format of a TV script. This novel managed to make me laugh out loud (and cry, naturally). So many of them are very good but very depressing.

Also, as a half-Asian American, I’ve been trying to find books, films, and documentaries related to Asian history and/or experience in the U.S. But it is things like this that made me want to read Interior Chinatown. (Which is particularly ironic since Yang experienced this marginalization by said people.)

Though I believe he was sidelined for his relatively centrist message rather than his Taiwanese heritage, it seems to me there is a prejudice against successful Asian Americans by certain people, especially when it does not fit their political narrative.

There was much evidence he was systematically ignored or silenced by certain media outlets ( this was one of many examples). The election approaches, and I’m still disappointed by the end of Andrew Yang’s run for presidency. Meanwhile, he watches the people in his life-father, mother, girlfriend-morphing between different roles and stereotypes, trying to find a good life for themselves and their families. Wu soon finds himself in an uphill battle to escape the role of Generic Asian Man, stuck as Guest Star in a crime TV series called Black and White with no room for Asian leads. It turns out those memories weren’t so off-base, at least in Hollywood, and Kung Fu Guy is hard to get as it is. Not just any movie star, but the role of Kung Fu Guy-the pinnacle of Asian acting, according to childhood memories. Reasonable advance notice is required.Willis Wu is a first-generation Chinese American whose dream is to become a movie star. Individuals with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or services, who are planning to attend Library programs or meetings, should notify the Library Director, Shauna Anderson at or 73 ext. If you have a need to not be captured in such photos, please advise the event planner prior to attending. Disclaimer(s) Photography & Accessibility InformationĪt times, the Library may take photos at Library events for historical and/or promotional purposes. Or is it?Īfter 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, and what that means for him, in today's America. but he dreams of being Kung Fu Guy-the highest aspiration he can imagine for a Chinatown denizen. 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.

Willis Wu doesn't perceive himself as a protagonist even in his own life: he's merely Generic Asian Man.

Interior chinatown goodreads