Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant
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- $23.99
Publisher Description
This “vivid, moving, funny, and heartfelt” memoir tells the story of Curtis Chin’s time growing up as a gay Chinese American kid in 1980’s Detroit (Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers).
Nineteen eighties Detroit was a volatile place to live, but above the fray stood a safe haven: Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine, where anyone—from the city’s first Black mayor to the local drag queens, from a big-time Hollywood star to elderly Jewish couples—could sit down for a warm, home-cooked meal. Here was where, beneath a bright-red awning and surrounded by his multigenerational family, filmmaker and activist Curtis Chin came of age; where he learned to embrace his identity as a gay ABC, or American-born Chinese; where he navigated the divided city’s spiraling misfortunes; and where—between helpings of almond boneless chicken, sweet-and-sour pork, and some of his own, less-savory culinary concoctions—he realized just how much he had to offer to the world, to his beloved family, and to himself.
Served up by the cofounder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop and structured around the very menu that graced the tables of Chung’s, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant is both a memoir and an invitation: to step inside one boy’s childhood oasis, scoot into a vinyl booth, and grow up with him—and perhaps even share something off the secret menu.
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APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The hustle, bustle, and aromas of a Chinese restaurant are the backdrop for this heartfelt memoir by documentary filmmaker Curtis Chin. Growing up in his family’s Detroit restaurant during the 1980s, he saw his beloved hometown deal (not always well) with violence, racism, and economic hardships, all while trying to come to terms with his own sexuality. Chin tells us, in his own voice, how precarious and conflicted both the city around him and his own feelings were, but mostly he details what a welcome refuge the beloved family restaurant was to him and his entire neighbourhood. The quiet confidence of his narration is comforting, inviting you to find a safe spot alongside him in the back booths of Chung’s, knowing that even in the most chaotic of times, everything would turn out well. Full of insight, passion, and humour, this audiobook tells a deeply satisfying tale about a boy finding his place in the world.
