Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown is a domestic fiction novel that exhibits Willis Wu’s quest to break free from the entertainment industry’s expectation for him to play stereotypical roles such as “Generic Asian Man.” His hope is to acquire the role of “Kung Fu Guy,” a highly regarded character on the TV show “Black and White.” On his journey, Wu faces the deeply rooted stereotypes and prejudices held by the entertainment industry and the deficient representation of Asian actors in the media. Wu begins to reevaluate his identity as an Asian man, where he starts to examine cultural representation, his own community, and society. While his journey takes some unexpected turns, Wu is able to develop an understanding of what “authentic representation” should look like, even beyond the role of “Kung Fu Guy.”
Interior Chinatown identifies what it means to be the lead role as both an individual and a valuable member of society. I would, without a doubt, recommend this novel. The novel is uniquely written in the formatting of a TV show script, and it confronts Asian stereotypes in a comprehensible, lighthearted way, while simultaneously communicating the depth of Asian experiences in the entertainment industry. I read this novel without wanting to put it down—it was both funny and serious, and never failed to be engaging.