About this title: If you think McDonald's is the most ubiquitous restaurant experience in America, consider that there are more Chinese restaurants in America than McDonalds, Burger Kings, and Wendys combined. New York Times reporter and Chinese-American (or American-born Chinese). In her search, Jennifer 8 Lee traces the history of Chinese-American experience ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Twelve
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781607510024ISBN:1607510022
Description: Like New. Excellent clean UNREAD condition! Cover may have some minor shelf wear. Book Club edition. Your satisfaction is guaranteed! read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Twelve, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2008
Description: Giorgetta Bell McRee (Book Design); Anne Twomey (Cover Design) Very Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Wraps; 307 pages with bibliography; Textblock is tight with no internal markings; Bright pictorial cover with no tears, no creasing to the spine and modest shelf and edge wear; ....(You'll enjoy the varied topics that have been included by the author. Some of the chapters are entitled: American-Born Chinese, The Menu Wars, The Biggest Culinary Joke Played by One Culture on Another, The Bean Sprout ... read more
Description: New. A Brand New Copy. Never Read. Buy with confidence from an Independent Bookstore where the owners, a husband and wife team, have over 30 years of combined bookselling experience. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Twelve
Date Published: 2009-03-23
ISBN-13:9780446698979ISBN:0446698970
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780446698979. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Twelve
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780446698979ISBN:0446698970
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Twelve/Hachette Book Group
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780446580076ISBN:0446580074
Description: Fine. ARC. Fascinating acount of the Chinese restaurant business by a NY Times reporter. Unread, as new in printed wraps. 308 pp. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Twelve
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780446580076ISBN:0446580074
Description: Fine-Used in Very Good jacket. / 0446580074. LIKE NEW CONDITION. 2008. PRISTINE except for 1/4" tear on back bottom DJ. Beautiful clean copy. prompt shipping, good service, careful packing. free Delivery Confirmation. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Twelve
Date Published: 2008-03-03
ISBN-13:9780446580076ISBN:0446580074
Description: Very Good. This First Edition, First Printing copy is in excellent condition. No visible markings, highlights, underlining, tears to text. Tight spine. Clean Hard Cover and Dust Jacket with light shelf/edge wear. Great reading copy, worth having at an affordable price. (L10-11) read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Twelve
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780446580076ISBN:0446580074
Description: New in new dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 320 p. Audience: General/trade. Brand New-Gift Quality In a plastic cover read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: LITTLE, BROWN & COMPANY Country = UNITED STATES
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780446698979ISBN:0446698970
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 320 pages. A woman's search for the world's greatest chinese restaurant proves that egg rolls are as american as apple pie. illustrations (Paperback) read more
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: LITTLE, BROWN BOOK GROUP Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780446580076ISBN:0446580074
Description: BRAND NEW HARDBACK. 320 pages. A woman's search for the world's greatest chinese restaurant proves that egg rolls are as american as apple pie. (Hardback) read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Twelve
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781607510024ISBN:1607510022
Description: New. Book is new, never used! Book will be packaged with care for a safe journey! *** 13 Years of online selling experience! ! **** Customer satisfaction guaranteed! read more
Description: Good. Minimal damage to cover and binding. Pages show light use. With pride from Motor City. All books guaranteed. Best Service, Best Prices. read more
Description: Satisfaction Guaranteed. Shipped quickly. Paperback. Used, very good. Very good overall with light to moderate wear. No dust jacket. read more
"I had several problems with this book. First, while individual chapters (essays, really) are well-written, they don't cohere as a book. Maybe Lee was trying to take a Chinese-buffet approach to her far-ranging topic, but it's jarring to jump from the harrowing journey of illegal Chinese immigrants being smuggled into the US to the search for the genesis of General Tso's chicken.
Second, Lee brings up deeper themes in her exploration of the world of Chinese food -- the impact of globalization, the experience of immigrants and their children, shifts in (North) American food culture -- but her exploration of them is shallow, and she seems to reach only the most obvious points, like: most "Chinese" food in the US isn't what they serve in China; being an illegal immigrant is dangerous, back-breaking, and bad for your family; second-generation children feel pulled between two cultures; etc. And despite her exhaustive research (check out the bibliography), she makes some glaring omissions: in one of the last chapters, about Chinese food around the globe, she mentions that the most popular dish at Brazilian Chinese restaurants is actually a Japanese noodle dish, yakisoba, without noting that it's actually a Japanification of chow mein. She discusses Italy and its currently xenophobic food culture without pointing out that pasta came from China via Marco Polo (even though she discusses the tomato). And how on earth do you find the greatest Chinese restaurant in the world, or even write a book about Chinese food in the US, without at least mentioning Hawaii, the state with the largest concentration of East Asians? And that's just one chapter.
On the other hand, reading this book lead to me discovering some really tasty char siu cookie things at the local Chinese baker that can only be described as a pork newton. There's always a silver lining, as a fortune cookie might say."
"I was pretty shocked too. A four star bestseller? With the word "Chronicles" in the title, no less? Ms. Lee exceeds the expectations of her campy cover in this roundabout study of the Chinese Restaurant business in America. The incredible saturation of new immigrants in this business allows the author to delve into human trafficking stories, follow families across continents and generations, through the US legal system and a vast web of Chinatowns across the globe. She doesn't shy away from the ugly parts: Chinese immigrants created niches for themselves in the laundry and food businesses because they were considered women's work, and no threat to American men's jobs. All told, Lee makes a strong case for Chinese food as a distinctly American cuisine, tied up in our seemingly contradictory historical desires for comfort and adventure in our food.
Most impressively of all, Lee grapples with her own writerly vices, questioning her need to pin the history of an immigrant group or cuisine into neat individual stories. The book's central search is for the origin of the Fortune Cookie, on the assumption that untangling its history will reveal some essential truth about the industry. Lee recognizes the flaw of this search throughout, and makes the reader take in the fruits of the journey all along the way, rather than making weak justifications for process at the end. I was happy to see this kind of transparency and introspection in a widely-read book, that really asks us to question what we think we'll learn from these stories.
I especially recommend the chapter on the Kosher Duck Scandal of 1989, which occurred at the Royal Dragon across from my high school and unearths some really fascinating stuff about Jews and their Chinese food. Also, the author's middle name is "8," and that's pretty awesome."
""Fortune Cookie" really is several books in one, with the idea of fortune cookies coming back to somewhat tie the stories of the book together. however, the stories, while related, do not feel connected leaving me with the feeling that the parts are greater than the whole.
I can tell from reading this book that Ms Lee will eventually become a writer I will love to read however she isn't quite there yet. In fortune cookie she was able to write an emotional, heart wrenching chapter on Chinese human smuggling and the price of life in America. Her chapter on going to Japan in search of the fortune cookie was also fun and whimsical. The story of the family who bought a Chinese restaurant will break your heart. But then you'd have to wade through her chapter on Jews and Chinese food which felt forced and clichéd. Or her search for the greatest Chinese restaurant in the world which truly was not enjoyable to read due to it being cliché in every single sense of the word.
And then you have the fortune cookie which supposedly ties the book together. Again, this felt a little forced, especially when she was writing about the lucky numbers and the lottery. However at other times you could begin to see how this little cookie related to Chinese in America. This was particularly true when she found out that the fortune cookie originated in Japan, was brought to the US by Japanese and then, during the Japanese interment it was the Chinese who gave it popularity.
Its that last theme that Ms Lee comes back to, several times. She never overplays it; she let's her statements remain subtle, unspoken really. To me, this worked, it helped bring home what happened without hitting the reader over the head.
The book is a quick, fun light read that is worthy of a beach or plane flight or just a distraction from the everyday. I know I learned some interesting trivia on American Chinese food, the Chinese diaspora, and a little about myself as well. If I could give this 3.5 stars, I would."
"I loved this book. It is a fascinating combination of a cultural memoir and history, discussing a wide variety of aspects of Chinese food (with an emphasis on Chinese food in America). One theme woven into the book is a definitively researched history of the origins of the fortune cookie (something that Americans associate with Chinese food but which is not done in China). Other themes include the (not entirely pleasant) facets of running a Chinese restaurant, including the human trafficking that is often involved, the sacrifices of individuals and families, and the perils of delivering the food.
A particularly fascinating portion of the book deals with the special esteem in which the Jewish community holds Chinese food (and an interesting scandal involving the cover-up of a shortage of kosher duck). Another very engrossing tale is the search for the real story of "General Tso's Chicken"; I have read other accounts that claimed to tell the story, but the author took it upon herself to perform a complete, exhaustive search for the definitive story, going to personally visit General Tso's hometown and then tracking down the (now-octogenarian) chef who originally introduced General Tso's Chicken to America, now retired in Taiwan, to get his opinion on the current state of the dish.
There is some discussion of Chinese food worldwide as well, and her search for the "best" Chinese restaurant among the diaspora, though I thought the idea of a single best restaurant was not really meaningful. There are some allusions to other versions of Chinese cuisine, e.g., Indo-Chinese, which probably deserve their own treatments in another book somewhere. She mentions the existence of some restaurants serving Indo-Chinese food in America; there is in fact one in Natick, MA, called Minerva.
I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the history and current status of Chinese food in America."
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