Elizabeth R. (esjro) - , reviewed on 5/12/2008 + 949 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 4

Do you like to read? Do you like Chinese food? Then how could you not like to read about Chinese food?!

Jennifer 8 Lee's book is a fascinating collection of essays about Chinese food and the Chinese immigrant experience. Some of the chapters (such as the one where she goes to China to try to determine the origin of General Tso's chicken) are laugh out loud funny. Others are not; in fact, my only criticism of this book is that the tone is somewhat disjointed from chapter to chapter. Some of the profiles of Chinese restaurant owners and workers are downright depressing, and tend to (rather jarringly) follow the lighter chapters. I would have preferred different sections to address the various chapter themes - e.g. food history, immigrant history, personal recollections.

That very minor criticism aside, this is an excellent book about something most of us partake a lot of but think little about.

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