The award-winning novel Interior Chinatown is LCC’s Beyond the Book selection this academic year, and the entire LCC community is invited to read and engage.
Charles Yu’s critically acclaimed second novel Interior Chinatown is “satire at its best, a shattering and darkly comic send-up of racial stereotyping in Hollywood…presented, perfectly, in the sharply hewed format of a screenplay” (Vanity Fair). Winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction, the novel is “a moving exploration of race and assimilation” (San Francisco Chronicle), “both rollicking entertainment and scathing commentary” (Booklist), and “a parable for outcasts feeling invisible in this fast-moving world” (Kirkus Reviews). It tells the story of Willis Wu, who has only ever been cast as the Generic Asian Man. Consigned to bit roles in the background of a procedural cop show, he dreams of playing Kung Fu Guy, the most respected role that anyone who looks like him can attain—or so he has always been told. The novel “recalls the humorous and heartfelt short stories of George Saunders, the metafictional high jinks of Mark Leyner, and films like The Truman Show” (New York Times). It’s “honest, funny, sad, and necessary…” (Thrillist). ~ National Endowment for the Arts
In partnership with the Office of Diversity & Inclusion (ODI), the LCC Library brings you Beyond the Book, a community reading program for the LCC community. Beyond the Book is focused on embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through exploring books with themes related to gender and self-identity, cultural perspectives, accessibility, advocacy, and/or racial inequity, while fostering a greater sense of community. Beyond the Book strives to create an enjoyable and mind-expanding reading experience both inside and outside the classroom.
A variety of different events will be scheduled to discuss the book and explore its themes. Even if you haven’t finished reading the book (or started it), please feel free to attend program events. Visit LCC Beyond the Book to see upcoming events.
Get a physical copy or the ebook, and learn more about it and related topics with the LCC Library Resource Guide
