“I’m a big fan of Charles Yu’s writing because of his wit and inventiveness. “ sharply observed, darkly humorous evocation of the Asian American experience that blurs the line between performative acts and literal small-screen performances.” The details meticulously crafted, render a universe that feels complete to the touch.” It’s all of those things, but maybe mostly, it’s allegory. a kind of a George Saundersesque alternate reality. Anita Felicelli, San Francisco Chronicle Interior Chinatown solders together mordant wit and melancholic whimsy to produce a moving exploration of race and assimilation that shouldn’t be missed by intellectually adventurous readers.” However, acidic jokes are counterbalanced by palpable tenderness around family, parenthood and the human condition. Like Percival Everett’s novel Erasure, its critique of race-from an Asian American perspective-cuts. marked by lacerating humor that blossoms into pathos. It’s full of clever wordplay and in-jokes about the Chinese American experience. The novel skewers pop-culture stereotypes of Asian Americans and contends, memorably, with assimilation. “ takes the theme of social roles beautifully sideways. recalls the humorous and heartfelt short stories of George Saunders, the metafictional high jinks of Mark Leyner and films like ‘The Truman Show.’” Interior Chinatown represents yet another stellar destination in the journey of a sui generis author of seemingly limitless skill and ambition.” - The New York Times Book Review Playful but heartfelt, a send-up of Hollywood tropes and Asian stereotypes, Interior Chinatown is Charles Yu’s most moving, daring, and masterly novel yet. At least that’s what he has been told, time and time again. 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. 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. Sometimes he gets to be Background Oriental Making a Weird Face or even Disgraced Son, but he is always relegated to a prop. Willis Wu doesn’t perceive himself as a protagonist even in his own life: He’s merely Generic Asian man. a delicious, ambitious Hollywood satire." - The Washington Postįrom the infinitely inventive author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe comes a deeply personal novel about race, pop culture, immigration, assimilation, and escaping the roles we are forced to play.
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