03 Jul “Controversy inspires a new reading list of neglected Asian American classics” via International Examiner
Vince Schleitwiler asked prominent writers and scholars, myself included, to recommend our favorite overlooked pieces of Asian American literature. Read his article for the full reading list.
An excerpt:
“Shawn Wong, UW professor and author of Homebase and American Knees, mentioned Louis Chu’s 1961 novel, Eat a Bowl of Tea, adapted for film by Wayne Wang in 1989, which UW Press will reissue in 2020. Writes Wong: ‘Forgotten and neglected for years until its rediscovery in the early 1970s, it is the first Chinese American novel set in post-WWII New York Chinatown. It unapologetically explores the mostly Chinatown bachelor society as it makes an uneasy transition to a family society despite decades of racist exclusion and immigration laws.'”