Interior Chinatown
Charles Yu · 2020
Written as a TV screenplay, starring an Asian-American man trapped in the role of "Generic Asian Man." Yu's formally inventive novel about stereotyping, identity, and the grammar of representation won the 2020 National Book Award and changed how people talk about Asian-American experience.
The case against
Yu's screenplay format is the whole bet, and it pays out early then keeps drawing on the same account. Characters are types by design, which means they stay types; depth is forbidden by the premise. By the courtroom finale the novel is openly delivering its thesis as a speech, and the satire, sharp at the start, has gone soft from repetition.
Best of Last 10 Years · the Pro canon
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