‘Interior Chinatown’ Explores Asian-American Identity In A Creative Way
Interior Chinatown hit home for me. It's a story about racism, the specific roles society expects us to play, and how these roles shape our identity.
I came across this book after it won the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction and was intrigued by the creative way the story was written — as a movie script. It’s fitting, considering the star of the novel is Willis Wu, an actor who starts as “Background Oriental Male” but aspires to be “Kung Fu Guy.”
I was impressed with how author Charles Yu was able to weave together two worlds so seamlessly (a fictional TV show and reality) while also providing powerful social commentary on so many things: the Asian-American experience, Hollywood tropes, parent-child relationships, and the immigrant experience.
I sometimes found myself questioning whether I was reading Willis Wu’s reality or TV show role, but that’s all part of the book’s experience. Sometimes our identities are so woven into who we think the world wants us to be. But how do we break out?
💥TL;DR: The novel is written as a movie script and explores the Asian-American experience and Hollywood tropes in a beautiful, creative way. A++
Read more about Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu:
