I love social histories that use one item as a springboard for exploration. I've read books on jade, opium, and now Chinese cuisine. [There is no pattern here. These are not the droids you're looking for.] Jennifer 8. Lee's The Fortune Cookie Chronicles begins as a search for the origins of the fortune cookie, and grows into a much broader survey of how Chinese food has become a cultural ambassador and anchor as much as a commodity. Plus, it's written like a Da Vinci Code thriller (in the good way)!I'm impressed with the depth and range of her research; it's almost like spending the afternoon following Wikipedia links, but she brings it all home in the end. Lee encapsulates the immigration patterns of Chinese Americans with remarkable concision (conciseness?), but maybe it's not quite so pithy if you haven't done your undergrad thesis on Chinese immigration in the 19th and early 20th century. She reaches beyond to look at the beginnings of door-hanger menus on the Upper West Side, Japanese American internment in WWII, Third World labor in Dubai, marketing strategies, and the very real perils of working as a Chinese deliveryman in the 21st century. Her conclusions on the ripples of influence that Chinese food has had on the intergenerational struggle for understanding are more profound than anything Amy Tan has come up with so far. I recommend this book! It left me, begging yer pardon, with a lot to chew on.
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, by Jennifer 8. Lee, at your local independent bookseller.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment