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A review by larrrn
Have You Eaten Yet?: Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the World by Cheuk Kwan
2.0
I really wanted to like this book. It seemed interesting from reading the jacket and I was excited to learn more about Chinese food and the diaspora.
But, in general, I think the original format of docuseries much better serves this storytelling. Reading, we receive a lot of medium-level life details about 5+ people per chapter that we only hear about for 3-10 pages each, then are never mentioned again. A lot of the people highlighted have similar stories, so they can easily start to tangle together as you read more and more of the chapters. By the time I finished it, I felt like I had a pretty good idea of the migration and development of these restaurants, but could hardly tell you about one specific person or place if asked. I'm still interested in watching the series, but this book was a bit of a slog for me to get through.
But, in general, I think the original format of docuseries much better serves this storytelling. Reading, we receive a lot of medium-level life details about 5+ people per chapter that we only hear about for 3-10 pages each, then are never mentioned again. A lot of the people highlighted have similar stories, so they can easily start to tangle together as you read more and more of the chapters. By the time I finished it, I felt like I had a pretty good idea of the migration and development of these restaurants, but could hardly tell you about one specific person or place if asked. I'm still interested in watching the series, but this book was a bit of a slog for me to get through.