“A Groundbreaking book.”
-The New York Times
“delightful… all readers interested in chinese american subjects must consider this title.”
-Library Journal
"fascinating and thoughtful.”
-Gish Jen, author of The Resisters and Typical American
“Bonnie Tsui has written affectionately and astutely about Chinatown.”
-Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of Lady Tan’s Circle of Women
“wonderfully revealing and compassionate.”
-Evan Osnos, Beijing correspondent, The New Yorker
“An intimate glimpse into chinatown.”
-The Contra Costa Times
*Winner of the 2009-2010 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature
*A San Francisco Chronicle bestseller and Best of 2009 Books selection
This book examines the most famous American Chinatowns, in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Honolulu—fingers of land on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, key entry points for multiple generations of Chinese immigrants to the United States—and, looking forward, explores the next generation of U.S. Chinatowns, in Las Vegas. Using these neighborhoods as a map, American Chinatown deals with the persistently enigmatic idea of Chinatown by serving up narrative epics of its own: stories and personal profiles that reveal modern-day realities and chronicle unexpected details of life.
Simon & Schuster, August 2009 and 2010
Praise for American chinatown:
“There’s more to Chinatown than many of us realize. Author Bonnie Tsui spoke with residents about their daily lives and visited five of the most storied Chinatowns in the country for her new book, American Chinatown.”
NPR’s “Talk of the Nation”
“Bonnie Tsui’s American Chinatown is an exploration of five communities—in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Honolulu, and Las Vegas—and how the Chinese-American residents of each have formed their own distinct cultures.”
The New Yorker
“An updated real-life insider look… reinforces the importance of place for ethnic Chinese of all stripes—recent immigrants and generations of Chinese Americans alike.”
The San Francisco Chronicle
“Through reportage and research, [Tsui’s] book examines how each of these neighborhoods came to be and how their identities have evolved.”
The Los Angeles Times
“Delightful… [Tsui’s] warm descriptions are accompanied by her own photographs and hand-drawn maps. All readers interested in Chinese American subjects must consider this title.”
Library Journal
“Tsui’s revealing and affectionate book is the story of ordinary and upstanding Americans—their strength in the face of prejudice and changing times, their appreciation for their past, their optimism for better lives. ”
APALA Literature Award committee citation for the Asian/Pacific American Award for LIterature
“A wonderfully revealing and compassionate trip into the real lives of men and women who straddle the world’s two great powers. Tsui plunges into Chinatowns that are, like China itself, reinventing themselves before our eyes, showing not only to what it means to be Chinese in the world, but also the spirit of self-invention that made America great.”
Evan Osnos, Beijing correspondent, The New Yorker
“A fascinating and thoughtful look at a thoroughly American phenomenon.”
Gish Jen, author of The Resisters and Typical American