When we think back to the 1980s in Michigan, what comes to mind? Maybe it’s the auto industry or Ronald Reagan’s nomination to the presidency.
For Chinese American writer Curtis Chin, it’s how a Cantonese restaurant became the gathering place for people across the city of Detroit — from LGBTQ folks to Black, and Asian people like himself.
Chin’s memoir, "Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant," comes out Monday October 17 and recounts his experience growing up Asian American in Detroit and his coming out story in a working-class immigrant community.
WKAR's Megan Schellong spoke with Chin to discuss his writing process.
Interview Highlights
On when he started writing a memoir, and how he knew he wanted to write one
this book actually took a long time to write. Where actually if I think about it, I started a different memoir with the same name, called Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant. And it was really focused on my family, my grandmother, my grandfather who was in the Chinese mafia. They were really family stories. And I started that book about 10 years ago.
But you know, when COVID came around and 'Stop AAPI Hate' became a thing and George Floyd was murdered, I started to want to take my book a little bit more seriously, looking at some of the issues that I had to deal with growing up in terms of my own racial identity and my coming out process. And so in some ways, I started writing a memoir 10 years ago, but this particular memoir, I would have to say, really started to take off right before COVID.
On the chapters of the book that were more difficult to write
Writing the book was more difficult than I thought it would be. Initially, I thought it would just be a humorous, fun book. But inevitably, when you think back on your life, you also think of the difficult moments. And in particular, there's this one incident about my parents' relationship with each other that still to this day is difficult for me. In fact, I was in New York City last spring recording the audio book, and I started breaking down just reading that one chapter.
On the message he wants to share with readers
Chinese restaurants are one of the few places where you might be able to walk in and see somebody from a different race, religion and socio-economic background. And I sort of want to take that opportunity to start having these conversations in our country, very important conversations, but maybe do it in a way that can bring us together. And so, it's sort of like, come for the egg rolls, but stay for the talk on racism. And I think that's what I want people to do. I want them to enjoy reading the book, but I also want them to think a little bit.
Interview Transcript
This is Morning Edition on WKAR. I’m Megan Schellong.
When we think back to the 1980s in Michigan, what comes to mind?
Maybe it’s the auto industry, or Ronald Reagan’s nomination to the presidency.
For Chinese American writer, Curtis Chin, it’s how a Cantonese restaurant became the gathering place for people across the city of Detroit—from LGBTQ folks to Black, and Asian people like himself.
Chin’s memoir: "Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant" recounts his experience growing up Asian American in Detroit and his coming out story in a working-class immigrant community.
Chin joins me now to discuss his writing process.
Curtis, thanks for being here.
Curtis Chin: Hi, thank you for inviting me.
Schellong: Of course. So, start us off, tell us the impetus for your memoir and when you knew you wanted to write one?
Chin: Well, this book actually took a long time to write. Where actually if I think about it, I started a different memoir with the same name, called Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant. And it was really focused on my family, my grandmother, my grandfather who was in the Chinese mafia. They were really family stories. And I started that book about 10 years ago.
But you know, when COVID came around and 'Stop AAPI Hate' became a thing and George Floyd was murdered, I started to want to take my book a little bit more seriously, looking at some of the issues that I had to deal with growing up in terms of my own racial identity and my coming out process. And so in some ways, I started writing a memoir 10 years ago, but this particular memoir, I would have to say, really started to take off right before COVID.
Schellong: What were some of the more difficult chapters to write?
Chin: Writing the book was more difficult than I thought it would be. Initially, I thought it would just be a humorous, fun book. But inevitably, when you think back on your life, you also think of the difficult moments. And in particular, there's this one incident about my parents' relationship with each other that still to this day is difficult for me. In fact, I was in New York City last spring recording the audio book, and I started breaking down just reading that one chapter.
Schellong: The grief comes and goes.
Chin: Yeah, you really understand how these moments define who you are. And who the people in your lives are and their lives and their trajectory. So, it's not necessarily just about how these incidents impacted me but what my family members were going through at the same time, too.
Schellong: What did you learn about yourself from writing this book?
Chin: I thought back a lot of the different incidents that in my life that I thought were defining moments and I was sort of surprised that they were actually maybe other things that were better suited for the book. So, I think in that way, that was surprising.
It's like, when people sit down to say, “I'm going to write my memoir,” you come up with a list of episodes that happened in your life, and you're like, “Oh, these are the important things that really shaped me.”
But in reality, they may actually be different ideas, different smaller moments that you had maybe even forgotten.
Schellong: What message do you want readers to walk away with?
Chin: I want people to have a good time reading my book. But at the same time, learn something. When I pitched this book to my agents, I talked to then about us living in a very divided culture right now, right? We have these little silos where we don't talk to each other.
But Chinese restaurants are one of the few places where you might be able to walk in and see somebody from a different race, religion and socio-economic background. And I sort of want to take that opportunity to start having these conversations in our country, very important conversations, but maybe do it in a way that can bring us together. And so, it's sort of like, come for the egg rolls, but stay for the talk on racism. And I think that's what I want people to do. I want them to enjoy reading the book, but I also want them to think a little bit.
Schellong: Curtis Chin is a writer, producer and documentarian. Curtis, Thanks for your time.
Chin: Thank you.
This interview has been edited for clarity.