Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

 

Willis Wu has a typical life for an Asian man.  He lives in a SRO where both his parents also live although Willis is grown.  He tries to make a living in film and television starting as Generic Asian Man.  From there there are stages, Asian Man Number Three, then Two then One, then Guest Star then for those who work the hardest on their craft and are the luckiest, the pinnacle.  Kung Fu Guy is the absolute top achieved by only a few.  His father had been Kung Fu Guy when Willis was a boy and his dreams are focused on achieving it as well.

Daily he leaves the SRO for the Golden Palace restaurant which is the set of the detective series Black And White as well as the locale where his mother was the receptionist and his father works as a fry cook.  The detective show talks about the prejudice and stereotypes of black men and women who attempt to pursue jobs in male environments.  Yet its' use of Generic Asian Men is as stereotypical as any other show and Willis must fight for a couple of lines.

But this is where he meets Karen, his love.  They have a child but their lives are threatened by Willis obsessions on becoming Kung Fu guy and they start to drift apart.  Can Willis break free and have a real life?

This novel is a National Book Award Winner and a best book of the year by such organizations as NPR, the New York Public Library, Shelf Awareness, The New Yorker, Southern Living and others.  It is a wry expose of the invisibility that minorities feel in a culture where white is the majority.  It explores the fact that there is rivalry between the various minorities such as African American and Asian and Hispanic about which encounters the worst treatment and the shame of competing in such a venue.  Although it doesn't feel factually correct in this time where there are opportunities outside of the entertainment venue for minorities, it feels emotionally correct about the reality minorities encounter daily.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction and those interested in the minority experience.