''Interior Chinatown'' is a 2020 novel by

Charles Yu Charles Chowkai Yu (; born January 3, 1976) is an American writer and lawyer. He is the author of the novels '' How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe'' and '' Interior Chinatown'', as well as the short-story collections ''Third C ...

. It is his second novel and was published by

Pantheon Books Pantheon Books is an American book publishing imprint. Founded in 1942 as an independent publishing house in New York City by Kurt and Helen Wolff, it specialized in introducing progressive European works to American readers. In 1961, it was ...

on January 28, 2020. It won the 2020

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987, the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, bu ...

. The novel was also longlisted for the 2021

Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction __NOTOC__ The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction were established in 2012 to recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. in the previous year. They are named in honor of ni ...

and was shortlisted for the

Prix Médicis The Prix Médicis () is a French literary award given each year in November. It was founded in 1958 by and .

étranger. A television adaptation of the novel, created by Yu and starring Jimmy O. Yang, premiered on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

on November 19, 2024.

Summary

The novel uses the narrative structure of the screenplay format to tell the tale of Willis Wu, the "Generic Asian Man" who is stuck playing "Background Oriental Male" and occasionally "Delivery Guy" in the fictional police procedural ''Black and White''. He longs to be "Kung Fu Guy" on screens worldwide.

Background

''Interior Chinatown'' was published in hardcover, e-book and audiobook format by

on January 28, 2020. The audiobook was narrated by actor

Joel de la Fuente Joel de la Fuente (born April 21, 1969) is an American actor. He first gained recognition for his role as 1st Lieutenant Paul Wang in '' Space: Above and Beyond'', and is best known for his roles as Dr. Johann Pryce in '' Hemlock Grove'', Kempei ...

. On January 27, 2020, Yu appeared on ''

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' ...

'' to discuss the book, as well as the lack of on-screen representation for Asian Americans and the

model minority The term model minority refers to a minority group, defined by factors such as ethnicity, race, or religion, whose members are perceived to be achieving a higher socioeconomic status in comparison to the overall population average. Consequently, ...

stereotype of Asian Americans. Yu also discussed the novel in an interview with

Scott Simon Scott Simon (born March 16, 1952) is an American journalist and the host of '' Weekend Edition Saturday'' on NPR. Early life Simon was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of comedian Ernie Simon and actress Patricia Lyons.

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

's ''

Weekend Edition Saturday ''Weekend Edition'' is a set of American radio news magazine programs produced and distributed by National Public Radio ( NPR). It is the weekend counterpart to the NPR radio program ''Morning Edition''. It consists of ''Weekend Edition Saturday ...

'' on January 25, 2020, and in an appearance on ''

Los Angeles Review of Books The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 201 ...

'' (LARB) Radio Hour with Medaya Ocher and Kate Wolf on February 3, 2020. In an interview with

Timothy Tau Timothy Tau (born Timothy Tau Hsieh ( ); traditional Chinese: 謝韜; pinyin: ''Xiè Tāo'') is a Taiwanese-American writer, engineer, attorney, law professor and filmmaker. Tau won the 2011 ''Hyphen'' Asian American Writers' Workshop Short Sto ...

for ''

Hyphen The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes (en dash , em dash and others), which are wider, or with t ...

'', Yu remarked that his influences for the novel included

Paul Beatty Paul Beatty (born June 9, 1962) is an American author and professor of writing at Columbia University.Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

-winning novel '' The Sellout'' as well as the "cyclical structure" of the film ''

Groundhog Day Groundhog Day (, , , ; Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a tradition observed regionally in the United States and Canada on February 2 of every year. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if ...

''.Timothy Tau, INTERIOR CHINATOWN WINS NATIONAL BOOK AWARD: Q&A with Charles Yu, Hyphen Magazine, https://hyphenmagazine.com/blog/2020/11/interior-chinatown-wins-national-book-award

Reception

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' called the novel an "acid indictment of Asian stereotypes and a parable for outcasts feeling invisible in this fast-moving world". Carolyn Kellogg of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' praised Yu's screenplay format as "the perfect delivery system for the satire of ''Interior Chinatown''". Anita Felicelli of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' called the novel's format "groundbreaking" and wrote that Yu "solders together mordant wit and melancholic whimsy to produce a moving exploration of race and assimilation". Pete Hsu of the ''

'' praised the accessibility of the novel's allegory and its commentary on the human condition, as well as the "meticulously crafted" details of the novel which "render a universe that feels complete to the touch". Josh Denslow of the ''Washington Independent Review of Books'' wrote that the story is "told with humor and affection and a deep understanding of human nature". Jaclyn Fulwood of ''

Shelf Awareness Shelf Awareness is an American publishing company that produces two e-zines focused on bookselling, books, and book reviews: ''Shelf Awareness'' is aimed at general consumers, while ''Shelf Awareness Pro'' caters for industry professionals. ...

'' wrote, "Yu's format-bending, deeply felt examination of the American dream is an exercise in encouraged empathy." Ken Smith of the ''Asian Review of Books'' wrote, "Though much of his protagonist's insecurities are narrowly focused—not just Asian, but specifically Asian American—his accumulation of concerns becomes surprisingly and relatably inclusive." The novel was also reviewed in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is ...

'', the ''New York Journal of Books'', ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American Conservatism, conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on Politics of the United States, national politics. Its broadsheet daily edit ...

'', ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1873, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduate students. His ...

'', the ''

Chicago Review of Books The ''Chicago Review of Books'' is an online literary publication of StoryStudio Chicago that reviews recent books covering diverse genres, presses, voices, and media. The magazine was started in 2016 by founding editor Adam Morgan. It is consi ...

'', and Bookreporter.com.

Television adaptation

In October 2020,

announced that they would be adapting the novel into a TV series. In 2022, details emerged that

Taika Waititi Taika David Cohen (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi ( ), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. Known for quirky comedy films and expanding his career as a voice actor and producer on numerous projects, he ...

would be an executive producer, Jimmy O. Yang would starring as Willis Wu, and that Charles Yu would be the showrunner. The ten-episode series premiered on Hulu on November 19, 2024.

Awards and nominations

References

{{NBA for Fiction 2000–2024 2020 American novels Pantheon Books books Asian-American novels Taiwanese-American culture Novels about actors Postmodern novels Hollywood novels National Book Award for Fiction–winning works