Interior Chinatown

 Interior Chinatown

By Charles Yu

This one was nothing if not unique. This book tells the story of Willis Wu, a bit-actor trying to make his way

up the ranks to the pinnacle of Asian acting: Kung Fu Man. But, of course, it is not simply the tale of Willis; it is also, in a way, the story of all Americans of Asian descent. The idea that Yu posits is that America is a black and white world that does not know what to do with this "other" category of people, which, despite centuries on American soil, therefore cannot shake the idea that they are somehow foreign. Asian stereotypes run so deep that Americans in this category are expected to play a role, what Yu dubs Generic Asian Man (or woman). 

He emphasizes this point by writing the book as if it is a movie script. Often times, Willis' acting jobs blend into real life. He will be playing "Special Guest Star" on a cop show, for instance, when he starts chatting with a fellow actor about the humiliation of having to do an accent when he was born and raised in the US. It's often a humorous, if disorienting, effect.

I found out after I started reading that the book won the National Book Award. It's easy to see why. It is inventive, funny, and, at times, powerful. I do wish, though, that it had been a bit heavier on plot. Often times, the book reads less like a novel and more like an essay. The blurring of "reality" and TV show -- which, I know, was part of the point -- added to this. So it was hard to commit to the characters. But a good read nonetheless.