Eat Everything Before You Die: A Chinaman in the Counterculture

Eat Everything Before You Die: A Chinaman in the Counterculture
ISBN-10
0295801115
ISBN-13
9780295801117
Category
Social Science
Pages
304
Language
English
Published
2011-11-01
Publisher
University of Washington Press
Author
Jeffery Paul Chan

Description

In this vibrant and original novel, Christopher Columbus Wong, orphan son of a Chinatown bachelor community, is trying to invent a family for himself while all around him American popular culture is reinventing itself with sex, drugs, and rock �n� roll. Christopher finds himself on a wild journey with his gay older brother, Peter, a pan-Pacific TV chef; the defrocked, deranged, and eroding ex-director of a Chinatown settlement house, Reverend Ted Candlewick; the sharp-eyed, conspiring matriarch Auntie Mary, the bridge between the conflicting values that make up this cultural stew; and Uncle Lincoln, a bachelor, short order cook, and, quite possibly, Christopher and Peter�s father. Further complicating Christopher�s voyage are his ex-wives: Winnie, a Hong Kong immigrant looking for a green card, and Melba, an American orphan of the counterculture. Set against the backdrop of America�s wars in Asia and the assimilation of that experience�the refugees, the stereotypes, the food�Eat Everything Before You Die is an ironic commentary on the identities the children of Chinese American immigrants concoct from their questionable histories, cultural practices, and survival strategies. Chan�s riotous story will appeal to general readers, particularly those interested in the Asian American experience, and will be of strong, enduring interest to students and scholars in Asian American Studies.

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