Interior Chinatown

“He is guilty, Your Honor and ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Guilty of wanting to become a part of something that never wanted him.”

This was a really good book, and my first addition to my 2021 favorites shelf. It's less a story and more a narrative framing device used as social commentary about the Chinese American experience. The book follows Willis Wu, “Generic Asian Man”, as he describes growing up and wanting so bad to become what he thinks is cool – Kung Fu Guy from TV and movies. He grows up, fights hard to become what he thinks the ideal Chinese American should be, then discovers that he didn't want that after all.

What I described is only the framework of the book. The real meat and potatoes comes in the form of social commentary about what it means growing up Asian American, both on a personal level and at a societal level. How the roles one plays as an Asian American on television doesn't seem to end when you leave the set, that you always feel like you're performing for your fellow Americans, because they have a set idea of what an Asian American should be and how they should act.

I really liked the point of view this book exposed me to. I found myself thinking a lot about what was said even when not actively reading it. While the storytelling isn't necessarily straightforward, I think the message is.