Interior Chinatown

Interior Chinatown

• Genre: Fiction; Asian American; novel written in screenplay format; satirical
• Originally Published: 2020
• Reading Level/Interest: College/adult
• Structure/Length: Seven chapters; approx. 288 pages; approx. four hours, 21 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Willis Wu, an actor in his twenties, works in small, mainly stereotypical Chinese roles in Hollywood, while dreaming of the role of kung fu master. He struggles to find his authentic identity as he navigates work, family, and society.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Stereotypes and discrimination, references to political repression and state-sponsored violence

Charles Yu, Author

• Bio: Born 1976; earned bachelor’s degree in biology from University of California, Berkeley; earned juris doctor degree from Columbia Law School; worked as lawyer; wrote for television, including Westworld on HBO, for which he was nominated for two Writers Guild of America awards; has written fiction and nonfiction: poetry, short stories, novels, essays, journalism, etc.; worked with TaiwaneseAmerican.org to create writing awards in his parents’ honor; Sherwood Anderson Fiction Award (2004); Robert Olen Butler Prize (2005)
• Other Works: Third Class Superhero (2006); How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (2010); Sorry Please Thank You (2013)
• Awards: National Book Award for Fiction (2020); shortlisted for Prix Médicis étranger (2020); longlisted for Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction (2021)