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furyofvissarion) wrote2010-01-27 09:08 pm
furyofvissarion) wrote2010-01-27 09:08 pm
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American Chinatown: A People’s History of Five Neighborhoods - Bonnie Tsui. Tsui takes a look at 5 Chinatowns in the US (New York, LA, San Francisco, Las Vegas, & Honolulu) in a fascinating book that I alternately wanted to be either broader (& thus probably shallower as a result) or deeper. This is popular nonfiction the way I like to read it: chatty, informal, not bogged down in academese but not vapid. We see how racism shapes Chinatown: the kitschy "Oriental" image that was exotic but tidy & respectable, in hopes of mitigating the burgeoning anti-Chinese sentiment. The need to be both a place for local Chinese and non-Chinese tourists was considered as well when Las Vegas' Chinatown was started. Instead of forming as a natural outgrowth of where Chinese people tended to live & shop, in Las Vegas, Chinatown is a mall that was designed by a rich Chinese guy. It's not quite as terrifying as that sounds, though. Another related theme is that of gentrification/development versus "authenticity."
A very interesting read--I wanted to hear about more than the 5 Chinatowns discussed. But I also wanted Tsui to get deeper. She talks a lot about how Chinatown relates to white America, but I wanted to hear more about how Chinese communities related to other POC groups.
I noted with disapproval that she completely left out any mention of Manilatown in SF, & how the fight to save the International Hotel was motivated in part because of a fear that Chinatown would take over Manilatown, erasing the small community which had nowhere else left to go. And indeed, Manilatown is absent entirely from her discussion of SF, though she even mentions the International Hotel as a place where elderly Chinese lived--which is true, but they were vastly outnumbered by elderly Filipinos & considering how emblematic the I-Hotel became for the Filipino community, it was disappointing to see Tsui participate in its erasure (she even read the same book about the I-Hotel I did).
Anyway, regardless, I would recommend this book.
Confessions of a Demon - S. L. Wright. An intriguing premise soured by utter predictability. In this urban fantasy novel, NYC is full of demons masquerading as humans. They feed off human emotion & take their name from the type of emotion they prefer (& thus try to elicit): Vex, Shock, Mystify, & protagonist Allay, who opened a bar in order to siphon off the pain of her customers. The names seemed really irksome to me at first, but as with Robin Hobb's Farseer books, I got used to them after a while. Anyway, Allay is actually a human-demon hybrid, having accidentally killed a demon trying to kill her & thus sort of becoming one. This makes her deliciously tempting to other demons, who want to eat her. There's internal demon politics, blah blah, & oh yeah, the plotline I hate: the strange man to whom the protagonist feels instantly drawn even though she usually doesn't allow anyone to get close to her, especially not a human, & she's never felt anything like this & he is strangely drawn to her too, blah blah. & oh yeah, he turns out to be a demon. You never would've guessed that one, right? Yawn.
Magic Strikes - Ilona Andrews. I think this might be the last Kate Daniels novel I read (regardless of whether or not there are other ones coming out). I still enjoy AndIlona Andrewsrews' gritty take on an Atlanta where both magic & modern technology only work in random waves. Too bad this book descended into the kind of crap I hate in paranormal romance: dodgy gender politics disguised as necessary because of animal nature. Here we have male shapeshifters who woo their women by breaking into their houses, just to prove they can. Curran, the head of the shapeshifters, has a habit of breaking into Kate's house just to watch her sleep. She is annoyed by this, but everyone tells her it's part of him wooing her & very normal, blah blah, & she kind of lets it slide. Also, Andrews has a way of writing about POCs in a gross exotifying way: "the way she walked... made me want to picture her in a sari. An exotic Indian princess." There are numerous squickifying comments throughout the book. Also, like lots of other paranormal novels, she seems to bring in non-Western magic/belief systems just to set them up as the cause of great evil. Ugh.
The Age of Dreaming - Nina Revoyr. Really beautifully written novel about Jun Nakayama, a Japanese man who was, astonishingly, a silent film star in Los Angeles during the 1910s & 1920s (his character is inspired partly by the life of Sessue Hayakawa). His career ended abruptly in 1922, but in the 1960s, while he is living a quiet life of obscurity, a young journalist comes calling to dig up his story. This was a stunning novel. I loved how intricately the book examines issues of race, racism, & what the obligations of "ethnic superstars" are--young filmstar Jun feels that his job is just to make good films, & is not too troubled by stereotypical portrayals of Asians that he might take on; he also thinks actors should stay out of politics. Later, of course, World War II & the internment happen, & Jun's viewpoints are shaken up a bit. Race, class, sexuality & gender are also tied into the murder of Ashley Bennett Tyler, Jun's favorite director, & as the story unfolds--in flashbacks, as Jun is forced, by the persistent journalist, to relive events he's been avoiding for years--I was completely captivated. Revoyr also highlights how, while some things may have changed in Hollywood in the 4 decades since Jun left film, some things regarding race haven't at all--& most readers will note this is true to the present day as well. My one complaint is that, among all the scandal--sex & murder & drinking & drugs--there appears a mentally disabled character, whose existence seems solely to be an excuse to pour on additional drama: OMG AND THEN THERE WAS A RETARDED BABY!!!1
Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles Of Incarcerated Women - Victoria Law. A good, solid explanation of the particular issues women face in prison & how these issues have been largely ignored by prison activists, feminists, & of course the prison-industrial complex itself. Grounded largely in correspondence Law has had with imprisoned women over nearly a decade (including producing the zine Tenacious, devoted to the writings of women in prison)--but also backed up by academic research where it is available--this is an impressive & moving read.
Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism - Melanie Joy, Ph.D. Joy takes us through the intricate philosophy of eating meat that serves to invisibilize both the animals that die & the people who kill them directly. She demonstrates the random nature of which animals different cultures may find edible, or may place a taboo upon eating. She's also got tons of illustrative quotes from carnists showing the psychological backflips they do--& are often somewhat conscious of--in order to keep eating meat. An intriguing book indeed.
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food - Jennifer 8. Lee. Another fun yet not too fluffy cultural look into Asian American life. Or more specifically, American Chinese food. Though Lee does devote a chapter to Chinese food in other parts of the world, & though her quest to, for example, discern the true origins of the fortune cookie takes her out of the US, most of the book focuses on Chinese food in the US. The book begins with a shocking result to the Powerball lottery draw: an unprecedented 110 winners. It turns out that they all used the "lucky numbers" printed on a particular fortune used in fortune cookies across the nation. Lee takes a look at Chinese restaurant workers--for whom the original Chinatown buses (leaving New York for Boston, Washington, D.C. & other places) were started, & with which the grounded Golden Venture ship was filled--soy sauce recipes, chop suey, & the factors that make a Chinese restaurant great, among other things. Sometimes I wanted a deeper analysis & sometimes I thought the fun, mostly upbeat tone was a bit annoyingly flippant. I also found the quest for the greatest Chinese restaurant in the world to be written about in a very superficial way & concluded anti-climactically. But in general, a good read.
A very interesting read--I wanted to hear about more than the 5 Chinatowns discussed. But I also wanted Tsui to get deeper. She talks a lot about how Chinatown relates to white America, but I wanted to hear more about how Chinese communities related to other POC groups.
I noted with disapproval that she completely left out any mention of Manilatown in SF, & how the fight to save the International Hotel was motivated in part because of a fear that Chinatown would take over Manilatown, erasing the small community which had nowhere else left to go. And indeed, Manilatown is absent entirely from her discussion of SF, though she even mentions the International Hotel as a place where elderly Chinese lived--which is true, but they were vastly outnumbered by elderly Filipinos & considering how emblematic the I-Hotel became for the Filipino community, it was disappointing to see Tsui participate in its erasure (she even read the same book about the I-Hotel I did).
Anyway, regardless, I would recommend this book.
Confessions of a Demon - S. L. Wright. An intriguing premise soured by utter predictability. In this urban fantasy novel, NYC is full of demons masquerading as humans. They feed off human emotion & take their name from the type of emotion they prefer (& thus try to elicit): Vex, Shock, Mystify, & protagonist Allay, who opened a bar in order to siphon off the pain of her customers. The names seemed really irksome to me at first, but as with Robin Hobb's Farseer books, I got used to them after a while. Anyway, Allay is actually a human-demon hybrid, having accidentally killed a demon trying to kill her & thus sort of becoming one. This makes her deliciously tempting to other demons, who want to eat her. There's internal demon politics, blah blah, & oh yeah, the plotline I hate: the strange man to whom the protagonist feels instantly drawn even though she usually doesn't allow anyone to get close to her, especially not a human, & she's never felt anything like this & he is strangely drawn to her too, blah blah. & oh yeah, he turns out to be a demon. You never would've guessed that one, right? Yawn.
Magic Strikes - Ilona Andrews. I think this might be the last Kate Daniels novel I read (regardless of whether or not there are other ones coming out). I still enjoy AndIlona Andrewsrews' gritty take on an Atlanta where both magic & modern technology only work in random waves. Too bad this book descended into the kind of crap I hate in paranormal romance: dodgy gender politics disguised as necessary because of animal nature. Here we have male shapeshifters who woo their women by breaking into their houses, just to prove they can. Curran, the head of the shapeshifters, has a habit of breaking into Kate's house just to watch her sleep. She is annoyed by this, but everyone tells her it's part of him wooing her & very normal, blah blah, & she kind of lets it slide. Also, Andrews has a way of writing about POCs in a gross exotifying way: "the way she walked... made me want to picture her in a sari. An exotic Indian princess." There are numerous squickifying comments throughout the book. Also, like lots of other paranormal novels, she seems to bring in non-Western magic/belief systems just to set them up as the cause of great evil. Ugh.
The Age of Dreaming - Nina Revoyr. Really beautifully written novel about Jun Nakayama, a Japanese man who was, astonishingly, a silent film star in Los Angeles during the 1910s & 1920s (his character is inspired partly by the life of Sessue Hayakawa). His career ended abruptly in 1922, but in the 1960s, while he is living a quiet life of obscurity, a young journalist comes calling to dig up his story. This was a stunning novel. I loved how intricately the book examines issues of race, racism, & what the obligations of "ethnic superstars" are--young filmstar Jun feels that his job is just to make good films, & is not too troubled by stereotypical portrayals of Asians that he might take on; he also thinks actors should stay out of politics. Later, of course, World War II & the internment happen, & Jun's viewpoints are shaken up a bit. Race, class, sexuality & gender are also tied into the murder of Ashley Bennett Tyler, Jun's favorite director, & as the story unfolds--in flashbacks, as Jun is forced, by the persistent journalist, to relive events he's been avoiding for years--I was completely captivated. Revoyr also highlights how, while some things may have changed in Hollywood in the 4 decades since Jun left film, some things regarding race haven't at all--& most readers will note this is true to the present day as well. My one complaint is that, among all the scandal--sex & murder & drinking & drugs--there appears a mentally disabled character, whose existence seems solely to be an excuse to pour on additional drama: OMG AND THEN THERE WAS A RETARDED BABY!!!1
Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles Of Incarcerated Women - Victoria Law. A good, solid explanation of the particular issues women face in prison & how these issues have been largely ignored by prison activists, feminists, & of course the prison-industrial complex itself. Grounded largely in correspondence Law has had with imprisoned women over nearly a decade (including producing the zine Tenacious, devoted to the writings of women in prison)--but also backed up by academic research where it is available--this is an impressive & moving read.
Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism - Melanie Joy, Ph.D. Joy takes us through the intricate philosophy of eating meat that serves to invisibilize both the animals that die & the people who kill them directly. She demonstrates the random nature of which animals different cultures may find edible, or may place a taboo upon eating. She's also got tons of illustrative quotes from carnists showing the psychological backflips they do--& are often somewhat conscious of--in order to keep eating meat. An intriguing book indeed.
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food - Jennifer 8. Lee. Another fun yet not too fluffy cultural look into Asian American life. Or more specifically, American Chinese food. Though Lee does devote a chapter to Chinese food in other parts of the world, & though her quest to, for example, discern the true origins of the fortune cookie takes her out of the US, most of the book focuses on Chinese food in the US. The book begins with a shocking result to the Powerball lottery draw: an unprecedented 110 winners. It turns out that they all used the "lucky numbers" printed on a particular fortune used in fortune cookies across the nation. Lee takes a look at Chinese restaurant workers--for whom the original Chinatown buses (leaving New York for Boston, Washington, D.C. & other places) were started, & with which the grounded Golden Venture ship was filled--soy sauce recipes, chop suey, & the factors that make a Chinese restaurant great, among other things. Sometimes I wanted a deeper analysis & sometimes I thought the fun, mostly upbeat tone was a bit annoyingly flippant. I also found the quest for the greatest Chinese restaurant in the world to be written about in a very superficial way & concluded anti-climactically. But in general, a good read.