American Dreams in a Chinese Takeout
On the grueling nature of Chinese restaurant work and the hopes and dreams of the cooks and delivery men who have migrated to the U.S.
On the grueling nature of Chinese restaurant work and the hopes and dreams of the cooks and delivery men who have migrated to the U.S.
Katie Salisbury The Ringer Dec 2018 15min Permalink
To whom does San Francisco’s oldest neighborhood belong?
An account of Chinese residents in a future, dystopian city once known as Baltimore; excerpted from Lee's latest novel.
"Maybe Charters can easily forget what it's like out there, but we B-Mors and others in similar settlements should be aware of the possibilities. We shouldn't take for granted the security and comfort of our neighborhoods, we shouldn't think that always leaving our windows open and our doors unlocked means that we're beyond an encroachment. We may believe our gates are insurmountable and that we're armored by routines, but can't we be touched by chance or fate, plucked up like a mouse foraging along his well-worn trail? Before you know it, you're looking down at the last faint print of your claws in the dirt."
Chang-rae Lee NPR Books Dec 2013 15min Permalink
A story of friendship and distance between two Filipino-American women.
"If Cathy could ever convince herself to write a story about that night, she’d probably mention how she took Evangeline home after her friend had nearly passed out on the sidewalk in front of the fifth bar they had gone to; she’d admit that she had known that Evangeline wasn’t used to marathon drinking, but that Evangeline didn’t seem to mind. Maybe she’d describe how Evangeline’s laughter buzzed in her ears like flies’ wings as when she had asked Evangeline for her address, and how she watched the lights of downtown Austin illuminate the interior of their cab with its indulgent, wasteful glow. Evangeline had sobered up when they had gotten home, and they helped each other fold out her futon couch, laughing when they realized that they couldn’t figure out how they had done it when they futon finally gave in to their pushing. If words fractured a friendship, alcohol healed it, and she wished it were possible to drown in the amber-colored recklessness of that night forever."
Monica Macansantos Five Quarterly Oct 2013 1h35min Permalink
On former nursing student One L. Goh, who killed six people at Oikos University in Oakland, California, and what it means to the Korean immigrant community.
Jay Caspian Kang New York Times Magazine Mar 2013 20min Permalink
After a Chinese immigrant couple were charged in their daughter’s death, supporters say they’re vulnerable targets of the American justice system.
Corey Kilgannon, Jeffrey E. Singer New York Times Jan 2012 10min Permalink
In the aftermath of a mysterious murder, exploring a part of the story that has received little attention: the young man who lost his life.
Rend Smith Washington City Paper Feb 2011 Permalink
Job Cohen, the current mayor of Amsterdam, is leading the Dutch race for Prime Minister on a platform of racial integration that could transform the relationship between European politics and immigration.