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lizcaruth's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism, Racial slurs, and Violence
megg's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Well, this book blew my mind. It reads like a script to a movie, and brings up lot of questions about Asian American representation. I never knew where it was going next. What a beautiful story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Violence and Hate crime
Minor: Sexism, Rape, and Murder
kelseyland's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A surreal satire of racist Hollywood tropes that follows the protagonist's quest to move from Generic Asian Man to Kung Fu Guy in the cop drama Black and White, which films in the Chinese restaurant below his apartment. The script format is a brilliant choice, and within that limited medium Yu is able to create a story that is funny, emotional, and wholly original.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Blood
deedireads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
Interior Chinatown is a creative, funny, moving, uniquely told story about race, immigration, and the roles that are cast for us — by others and ourselves.
For you if: You want a big-hearted but hard-hitting book in a fun format.
FULL REVIEW
TL;DR REVIEW:
Interior Chinatown is a creative, funny, moving, uniquely told story about race, immigration, and the roles that are cast for us — by others and ourselves.
For you if: You want a big-hearted but hard-hitting book in a fun format.
FULL REVIEW
“I’m guilty, too. Guilty of playing this role. Letting it define me. Internalizing the role so completely that I’ve lost track of where reality starts and the performance begins. And letting that define how I see other people. I’m as guilty of it as anyone.”
This book. Holy moly was it good! I can absolutely see why it won the National Book Award last year — it’s super creative, it’s warm and quite funny, it’s smart and hard-hitting and emotional too. It’s rare that a book comes around that makes you think wow, that was really brilliant and truly unique — but this one does it.
This is a satirical novel about a man named Willis Wu, who’s working his way up the ranks of Generic Asian Men on a cop drama called Black and White. His ultimate dream — the dream of everyone he knows — is to become Kung Fu Guy. (His father was Kung Fu Guy once, but now he’s just Old Asian Man.) In his quest to climb ever higher up a ladder with no top, he’s forced to confront the fact that the roles he plays are cast just as much by himself as by society itself.
First of all, you absolutely have to listen to the audiobook of this one as you read along. It was extremely well voiced and produced, and it added a TON to my reading experience. Truly, don’t miss it. Hats off to Joel de la Fuente for his performance.
This book is so fun to read, and you definitely just have to go with it. Parts are written like a film script, parts in prose. It blends “reality” and metaphor, switching between them to create something that’s not quite linear or logical but super moving and effective. And it’s funny! And the ending — a dream-state court scene — is one of the best I’ve read in a really, really long time.
At its heart, this is a book about race and immigration, the futility of comparing one group’s experience with racism to another’s, holding onto your heritage while breaking out of stereotypes, family, love, identity, confidence, history, and so much more. It’s also a relatively short book you can read in a few hours. Which you absolutely should do.
“There once was a little girl who was —
You pause. Unsure of what to say next.
This is a key point in the story.
The next word, and whatever you say after that, will determine a great many things about it, will either open up the story, like a key in a lock in a door to a palace with however many rooms, too many to count, and hallways and stairways and false walls and secret passages, or the next word could be a wall itself, two walls, closing in, it could be the limits on where the story could go.”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs
Minor: Violence
hamohero's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, and Violence
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