Curtis Chin's memoir pays homage to his family's Chinese restaurant

NPR's Book of the Day

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Arts, Books

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 15 November 2023

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

There are lots of things Curtis Chin, co-founder of the Asian American Writers' Workshop, learned at his family's Chinese restaurant: how to be curious, how to be kind, how to create community. His new memoir, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant, recalls Chin's upbringing as a gay Chinese-American boy in 1980s Detroit, and how the family business served as the ultimate safe space – not just for him, but for everyone in the city. He tells NPR's Ailsa Chang about the diverse clientele that frequented the restaurant, and how it continues to shape his worldview today.

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. You know, since COVID, there's been
0:06.6	a lot of talk about the loss of third places. Third places are essentially, you know, places you
0:12.8	hang out at that aren't your home or your work. So, you know, coffee shops, the local bar,
0:17.2	libraries, churches, etc. These places in their own unique ways help make sure you
0:22.5	interface with their neighbors in a way you otherwise might not. Chinese restaurants can be
0:27.5	great third places where you can really get to know people over a plate of roast dug and zambachoy.
0:33.6	Probably no one knows this more than Curtis Chin. His family restaurant in Detroit was this exact
0:38.7	type of place. And he's got a memoir out now called Everything I Learned I Learned in a Chinese
0:44.5	restaurant. And after the break, listen to him talk to MPR's Elsa Chang about how to this
0:49.6	day, even though he doesn't work in a restaurant anymore, he still feels like a Chinese waiter.
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