The Preston Public Library, in partnership with One Book One Region, will host a discussion of the book Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu on Thursday September 23 at 6:00 pm. The facilitator of this event will be Olivia Loo, a student at Connecticut College working on a picture book for children that addresses racism. Multiple copies of this title are available at the Library. Refreshments will be served.
Told in screenplay format, Yu highlights the issue of stereotypes of Asian Americans through his protagonist Willis Wu’s career in show business.
“In Interior Chinatown the author posits that we are reading a teleplay about Chinatown — specifically the Golden Palace restaurant, which is the setting for a cop show called “Black and White.” Through his protagonist, Willis Wu — who has a small part on the show — Yu explores in devastating (and darkly hilarious) fashion Hollywood’s penchant for promoting clichés about Asians and Asian Americans. Wu has worked his way from “Background Oriental Male” to “Dead Asian Man” to “Generic Asian Man Number Three/Delivery Guy” — a long way from “Kung Fu Guy,” which is where he wants to be”. (New York Times, Feb. 28, 2020)
Now in its 19th year, Eastern Connecticut’s One Book One Region, selects a title each year to be read during the summer by the community in addition to supplemental programs and a visit from the selected book’s author.
This is an in-person program and social distancing and masks are required. Registration is required and limited to 15 participants. Please call the library at (860) 886-1010 or email us at prestonlibraryprograms@gmail.com.
For additional questions, please call the library at (860) 886-1010.
