8/19/2023 0 Comments Charles yu talks about interior![]() ![]() Fourth wall breaks abound, meta commentary about TV tropes and cliches, the framing of Harris’s life as flashbacks and formula stories – author Charles Yu throws it all into the mix, twisting and mixing the expectations in playful, clever ways that allow him to explore his big ideas in a thoughtful manner while never letting the book become heavy or grim. It doesn’t take long, though, for Interior Chinatown’s structure to reveal that it’s far more playful and less restricted than that screenplay format might lead you to think. But right now, he’s just Generic Asian Male, working his way through bit parts and cameo roles in this Chinatown-set police procedural. One day, Willis thinks, one day he’ll be the biggest role “someone like him” can be – he’ll be Kung Fu Guy. In the broadest terms, Interior Chinatown takes the form of a screenplay – specifically, a script for the cop show Black and White, a show on which our protagonist, Willis Wu, currently works as an extra. But really, winning that award might give the impression that Interior Chinatown is one of those Big Serious Important Novels, and that couldn’t be further from the truth – no, the book is fun, funny, clever, and entertaining, even as it’s handling some very big ideas and doing so with grace and care. ![]() I didn’t realize that Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown had won the National Book Award until after I finished it, but really, it didn’t come as a surprise – when a book this sharp and clever comes along, grappling with ideas about parenting and Asian stereotypes and media, it shouldn’t be a shock to find it acclaimed and awarded. ![]()
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