Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant

 

Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis Chin  291 pp.

This memoir is exactly what the title says. Curtis Chin was one of many children in a family that ran one of the best Chinese restaurants in Detroit's old Chinatown His father was the son of Chinese immigrants. His mother was a Chinese bride who came from Hong Kong to marry at the age of 17. Curtis navigates the not always easy mix of Chinese and American cultures while growing up. Along the way he realizes he is also gay and that adds more pressure to the mix. In spite of his efforts to break free from his often stifling family, his strong connections remain through high school and college at the University of Michigan. This is a very introspective book. You won't find an abundance of action. Just a gay kid trying to navigate his life and make it to adulthood on the hard streets of Detroit, cushioned by a strong family connections and chapters named like menu items. It wasn't what I was expecting, not that I know what that was, but it served the author's purpose.