A funny, thoughtful book about the immigrant experience, and how it resonates down the generations. Its "hi-concept" format (written as a pastiche screenplay) might put some readers off, but it's really worth sticking with, for its wonderful insights into parent/child relationships, growing up, growing old, and maybe figuring out who you really are, on the way ...

"How To Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe" is one of my favorite books ever. It's on my list of Desert Island books, one that I would be happy to read again and again and again, just for its wit, its deep emotion, and its charming craziness.

So I will admit that I was a little worried, as I began Interior Chinatown, that Yu was trying too hard to recapture the lightening in the bottle. That the wit and deep emotion were still there, but a little strained. That the craziness was wearing just a little bit thin. And although there was a lot that I liked about it, even at the end I was left with the sense that something was missing ("something" that was present in an abundance in How To Live Safely ...): a plot, fr'instance. A surety of touch that meant that the hi-concept was firing on all cylinders with the wit/charm/emotion and craziness.

But even so, I unreservedly loved the way that Yu puts into words -- funny, heart-breaking words -- my sense of my own family's immigrant experience, and my place in it.

Share/Like this Review?