Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant: A Memoir Hardcover – 17 October 2023
by Curtis Chin (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 135 ratings
An American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book
Most Anticipated This Fall in TIME, San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post, Goodreads, Lamba Literary Review, Kirkus Reviews, and PinkNews
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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From other countries
Adam Leipzig
5.0 out of 5 stars Exemplifies what a memoir should be
Reviewed in the United States on 7 January 2024
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What a great read! Chin's memoir takes us on his personal portrait of the artist as a young boy becoming a man, emerging into the writer he is today. Through his experiences growing up in the best Chinese restaurant in Detroit, the author brings us a menu of family, food, the immigrant experience, social strata, the downfall of the inner city, racism, politics, America, and his coming out as a gay man. So well written, effortless to read, often funny, always smart. This book exemplifies what a memoir should be: through the lens of a single life, we see the giant world.
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GiGi Ropp
4.0 out of 5 stars Relatable
Reviewed in the United States on 7 December 2023
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I knew the second I started reading this that I would want the audio instead and I’m so glad I made the switch! Curtis is relatable and raw and honest while still presenting his harrowing tales hilariously! As a child to immigrants, I could relate so much but also lear ed about his culture’s unique challenges. A great memoir!
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Anonymous
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on 22 January 2024
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I am a gay Chinese person currently living in the U.S. This is a first book I read on the experiences of being Asian AND gay in America (does a second one exist?). Chin's narrative is touching, and he manages to add a crisp tone to events that are painful in nature. He has my unwavering support.
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Started out strong, story turned to a coming of age type story.
Reviewed in the United States on 29 December 2023
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I was hoping the book would be filled with nostalgia from the 60’s and 70’s. It became more of a coming of age type story. That’s fine, but not what I was lead to believe about the book from the CBS Morning Show interview with the author.
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JD_Trixy
5.0 out of 5 stars I can’t wait to read it again!
Reviewed in the United States on 6 January 2024
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This book was so good with important history, humor, sensitivity to the human spirit, and culture! Really, Chin managed to put his all into this memoir and I am grateful. I laughed and reflected on many things and as I said before, “I can’t wait to read it again!”
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Ann Therese Palmer
5.0 out of 5 stars This Motown Memoir is as powerful as the cars Detroit produces
Reviewed in the United States on 31 October 2023
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Curtis Chin has written a thoughtful, perceptive memoir documenting his early life, a delicate balancing act of the traditional Chinese ways of his parents and extended family vs. the American culture he encounters at school and in his neighborhood. As a native Detroiter, I know both the neighborhood where his parents’ restaurant was located, as well as the suburban neighborhood off Rochester Road in Troy where he was raised. Chin has done a masterful job describing both milieus and what animates them. But, what really impacted me was the on-going examination of what it meant for him to be one of the first gay Asians — in his elementary and high schools and at U-Michigan — and his coping strategies. I felt such empathy for him, as he recounted instances of casual racism, how he felt wronged, and why he felt he couldn’t redress the grievance. This is an underreported story nationwide, but particularly in Detroit, with its black-white dichotomy. Chin is a gifted, thoughtful writer. I hope this memoir will have a sequel.
7 people found this helpful
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EDMa
5.0 out of 5 stars Moving, raw, honest and infinitely relatable story of a first-generation Chinese American.
Reviewed in the United States on 23 October 2023
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Disclaimer: I am also a first-generation Chinese American, and was close friends with the author's older brother, Chris, after the author's family moved to Troy, MI.
I eagerly awaited the release of this book - the title and the synopsis captured my interest and I couldn't wait to read it. I finally read it over the weekend and in one day. The author's story resonated with me. In some ways, the author's experiences were identical to my own experiences growing up. In others, though, they could not have been more different. I found myself giggling at times whilst reading the book, and feeling unutterably sad at other times, moved to the point of tears.
The author's memoir is the ultimate success story. The middle child who finds his way. The son who makes his parents proud. The sibling of overachievers who becomes an overachiever. The man who embraces his sexual identity. This memoir is gritty, honest and ultimately uplifting. There is something in the author's story that will resonate with everyone. I highly recommend this book.
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Tenesha L. Curtis
5.0 out of 5 stars The comfort food version of a memoir.
Reviewed in the United States on 5 November 2023
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Whether you’re an adult or a child, figuring out who you are is tough. Accepting who you are can be even harder! In his memoir, Curtis Chin illustrates that it’s okay to look in the mirror with eyes wide open, and it’s okay to love what you see. From studying the gregarious charm of his father to uncovering the sacrifices of his mother to finally saying aloud the most terrifying and liberating two words of his life (“I’m gay.”), it was fascinating to read how the various situations that Chin found himself in influenced who he is now and the person he may still be growing to become. Anyone who is looking for a life-lesson-filled memoir garnished with laughs and prepared with love should order their copy of Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant immediately!
♥I read an ARC of this book sourced through NetGalley. ♥
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Bufster3
5.0 out of 5 stars Heart warming, heart breaking, funny, thought provoking
Reviewed in the United States on 21 October 2023
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Curtis Chin's powerful memoir is an instant classic, and a very important book. Curtis is a masterful storyteller, weaving the tale of his childhood, adolescence, and university years.
He grew up at his family's business, the iconic Chung's Cantonese restaurant in now defunct New Chinatown in Detroit. Chin tells of growing up an American Born Chinese, closeted gay young man in Detroit's most notorious neighborhood in the 1970s and 1980s. He grew up a working member of the family business, contributing to his family's livelyhood, as well as saving up for his own university education. This is the story of a hard working, intelligent, loving son, his family, the end of an important ethnic community, and an ode to the City of Detroit.
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Andrew Gans
5.0 out of 5 stars Great narrative with the twist of the Chinese restaurant.
Reviewed in the United States on 27 November 2023
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Bought this book as I'm friends with Jeff, "aka Mr. Yale-Michigan-Law-School-off-to-Japan".
Glad I did. Really enjoyed the narrative and creative twist of the Chinese restaurant viewpoint. I would have learned something about cooking/cuisine too, IF I had any skills in cooking.
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