Curtis Chin

Curtis Chin’s memoir about growing up in Detroit and its suburbs was entertaining, often very funny, and yet frank about racism and the experience of growing up gay.

The family restaurant was opened in 1940 in downtown Detroit’s Old Chinatown, which was, along with Paradise Alley, torn down for ‘urban renewal’. They relocated to the Cass Corridor in a mixed neighborhood.

The mayor came for dinner, and late night found hookers frequenting the restaurant. As it was opened on Christian holidays, it drew Jewish people.

In the 1980s, Detroit was not a good place to be. The city was bankrupt, people were fleeing, crime was up. The neighborhood changed. The restaurant doors were kept locked and opened for diners.

Chin’s writing about Chinese food made my mouth water! Almond cookies, egg foo young, moo goo gai pan, kung pao chicken, and egg rolls–with a surprising secret ingredient.

The Chins moved from the multicultural Southfield for Troy, which is just a few minutes north of where I live. The white neighborhood didn’t accept them, and their house was vandalized.

To fit into the white, suburban school, Chin became a young Republican supporting President Reagan. He grew out of his conservatism at University of Michigan where he met a broader demographic, including other gays. He finally felt comfortable to come out as gay.

When he took a writing class, his educational career took a curve. “Poetry saved me,” he writes. “It gave me back a sense of control, arming me with a new set of tools to express myself.” He launched a journal for writers of color.

The more lighthearted feel of the early book changes as Chin describes the anxiety of coming out and risking his first sexual encounters. From a child just looking for a place to sit in a busy restaurant, to a confident young man leaving home to start his career, the memoir covers Chin’s.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book.… (mais)

A really enjoyable memoir of what it was like growing up as a Chinese-American in Detroit in the 1980's. The author was practically raised in his family's Chinese restaurant, and has many good stories to tell about it. Loads of descriptions of what it was like being Asian in Detroit, with the racism, the discrimination and the stereotypes he faced. Not to mention the actual physical danger of living in downtown Detroit at that time! As if that were not enough of a challenge, being Asian AND discovering that he was gay really made for some tough times. I have to admit, this is the first time I have ever read a book where the author describes what it was like discovering his sexuality from the time he was very young. It must have been so confusing, frightening, and daunting for him. It really opened my eyes up to something I really never thought about before (and at age 63, I thought I knew everything, haha). It made me really think, and left impressed and happy that the author came through the struggle to become a happy, well-adjusted person. This is a thought-provoking, interesting read, and filled with great memories of recipes and foods. But....beware the grandmother!!!!… (mais)