Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant : : a Memoir

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 Chin, Curtis	4-week checkout	Due 01-13-2025
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 Chin, Curtis	4-week checkout	Due 02-09-2025
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 Chin, Curtis	4-week checkout	Due 01-20-2025
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 Chin, Curtis	4-week checkout	Due 01-26-2025
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / General / Chin, Curtis	4-week checkout	Due 01-31-2025
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / General / Chin, Curtis	4-week checkout	Due 02-02-2025
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / General / Chin, Curtis	4-week checkout	Due 01-30-2025
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / General / Chin, Curtis	4-week checkout	Due 01-05-2025

"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 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"--Provided by publisher.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

A Detroit story submitted by synwong on June 14, 2024, 9:09am I was able to see Chin speak in person and, as a result, was able to glean more about the author's voice. The story itself is compelling--especially as it takes place in a beloved Midwest city--but the prose less so.

Great memoir submitted by Xris on July 7, 2024, 8:27am So cool that it takes place in our area and I could look up or just know where things were that he was talking about. Great memoir of his life, and trying to come out as a gay man, while working in his famiiy's restaurant. I looked up his website and at the bottom there's a link to the movie he made about Vincent Chin. We need more Asian Studies in schools!

Okay submitted by zmclaugh on July 22, 2024, 7:03am This was an interesting topic, but the writing style was a bit odd and overall I didn't think any of the themes were really delved into in any detail.

Memoir worth reading submitted by srlorand on July 28, 2024, 7:46am Chin writes movingly and openly about his childhood and coming-of-age in Detroit and at the University of Michigan. The memoir covers difficult and painful subjects that are important for readers who are straight and/or white to understand. Fortunately there’s also joy and humor. Highly recommended.
I first heard of this book through a radio interview with the author, and I recommend hearing his voice if you can.