You’re invited to join LCC for our next Beyond the Book community read, “Interior Chinatown,” by Charles Yu. Written in the form of a screenplay, Yu writes about race, immigration, assimilation, stereotypes and pop culture in this hilarious and heart-breaking work of fiction.

Penguin Random House provides this premise: “Willis Wu doesn’t perceive himself as the protagonist in his own life: he’s merely Generic Asian Man. Sometimes he gets to be Background Oriental Making a Weird Face or even Disgraced Son, but always he is relegated to a prop. Yet every day, he leaves his tiny room in a Chinatown SRO and enters the Golden Palace restaurant, where Black and White, a procedural cop show, is in perpetual production. He’s a bit player here, too, but he dreams of being Kung Fu Guy – the most respected role that anyone who looks like him can attain. Or is it? After stumbling into the spotlight, Willis finds himself launched into a wider world than he’s ever known, discovering not only the secret history of Chinatown, but the buried legacy of his own family.”

LCC’s 2023-2024 Beyond the Book programming will include events, free copies of the book and more. Stay tuned for details as we move toward the fall semester!