Child of the Owl: Golden Mountain Chronicles: 1965 Review

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(More customer reviews)I found this book on the shelf of my 5th grade classroom 14 years ago, and it completely changed my life. Never before and actually, never since, did I feel like I could relate to a character in a book like that. But, of course, reading it again when i was older, I don't relate to anything in the book other than the main character was a Chinese American female, and so was I.
As opposed to some other Asian American books for kids, I like this one particularly because it takes place in the US. While more 'multi-cultural' books try and relate back to China a lot, I liked this one because I find it a lot more relavant to the 2nd generation/3rd generation experience, and it also appeals to the curiosity people begin to have about their 'culture' when they start thinking about ethnic identity.
The strong parts about the book: The story is engaging, and even though it was written in the 1970's or 1960's, it doesn't seem dated. It's about a separated family, and Casey's a toy-boy who doesn't take a lot of crap, as opposed to some goody-goody. And the backdrop of Chinatown makes it pretty interesting and urban, and gives a good general historical background of Chinatown as an ethnic enclave, too. Also, if anyone is concerned about the politics represented in the book, as far as I can tell, there aren't any messages of advocating for a color-blind society or all multi-culti-feel-good sentiment which are characteristics I find frustrating about a lot of other 'books for Asian American youth'.
The weak parts about the book: I don't really like a lot of mythology, folklore or fantastic stories. I hated them as a kid, and I still really don't like it now. My least favorite part as a kid is the story about the spirit of the owl, and it still makes me weary. The book still implies filial piety, but to a degree which I think it's ok, mostly because of Casey's strong personality and inclination to rebel. Also, most Chinese American kids live outside of Chinatowns so the experience is a lot different and I haven't heard of too many books which sort of discuss either a more urban, or a more suburbian narrative that's pretty realistic and has good politics, too.
Nonetheless, I still pick up the book from time to time. I don't know a whole lot of other Asian American kids books, but as someone who turned out to be an Asian American major in college, I still need to pay tribute to the fact that regardless of whether in retrospect I think my life related, it very early on offered me the narative of a Chinese American female in the US, and the beginnings of understanding what it meant for me to be Chinese American.
Other Yep books have a little too much mysticism and folklore for my taste, but I do think Dragonwings offers a strong look at the history of Chinese Americans in California.

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Forbidden City: The Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs (The Hampton Press Communication Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)If you ever lived in San Francisco or hungout in Chinatown or knew any of the people in this book you will find this a fascinating and enjoyable look back at a time and places that are gone now, but were vibrant and fun.

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From the late 1930's to the early 1960's, Chinese nightclubs fourished in San Francisco's Chinatown. They were the first, and in those days the only venues for talented Asians who sang or danced professionally. Asian entertainers came from everywhere to perform in Chinatown, and they all found a home in the Chinese Nightclubs. For publicity purposes, many of the entertainers were compared to famous Caucasian stars. They were billed as "The Chinese Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers," "the Chinese Frank Sinatra", the "Chinese Sophie Tucker." They sang and danced for the GIs during the war, and Hollywood stars like Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman came to their shows. In this book the men and women who performed in the nightclubs from 1937 to 1964, tell their stories in their own words. Forbidden city brings back to life an age of glamour and a long neglected slice of Asian-American history.

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Edgar Allan Poe's San Francisco: Terror Tales of the City Review

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(More customer reviews)Mr. Corvino, Jr. is an author that obviously knows his material well. Drawing from an impressive catalog of Edgar A. Poe-inspired madness, he pulls us into a nightmare of insanity within a world of remarkable detail. The disorienting Mesmeric adventures of the protagonist lead the reader through a macabre series of dance-steps ending in a dizzying crescendo with a corkscrew-twist!
The author "out Herod's Herod" as they say, piling perversity upon perversity in a compelling tale that is an homage to Mr. Poe, but made this reader think of Hitchcock along the way.
As an avid reader of Poe, it was fun to see how Mr. Corvino, Jr. imaginatively blended the original source material into an alchemical concoction of his own. It's also a pleasure to witness such inspired creativity sprout from literary seeds planted so long ago.



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Genthe's Photographs of San Francisco's Old Chinatown Review

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(More customer reviews)Arnold Genthe was a German doctor of philosophy who arrived in San Francisco in 1895. He was fascinated by the Chinese and used his skill as an amatuer photographer to take over 200 photos of Chinatown's "Tangrenbu" section. These are valuable photographs as they depict Chinatown as it existed before the 1906 earthquake. Tangrenbu was the home of thousands of Chinese who were forced to live in this area due to de facto segregation and deep seated prejudice by San Franciscans. The Chinese were clannish and left few written records of their lives. The 1906 disaster destroyed whatever documents which may have existed so Genthe's pictures assume an importance beyond the mere fact of depicting persons and scenes.
Chinese had been living in San Francisco as early as 1838, a full ten years before gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill. Between 1838 and 1849, Chinese were men of means, generally merchants, and few in number. As San Francisco boomed with gold seekers, the city experienced a continuing shortage of workers who were needed to lay roadways, reclaim swampy land, make boots and shoes, and to perform hundreds of other tasks. Native Americans wouldn't cooperate and Mexican-Americans were investing their time in gold mining.
The solution was Chinese laborers as they had been used profitably on British colonial plantations in South America and the West Indies. Chinese merchants were employed as middlemen in the process of supplying the laborers. In a span of 30 years, hundreds of thousands of Chinese were lured onto British, American, and other western ships for the long trip across the Pacific Ocean. Conditions on these ships were often worse than on those of the African slave trade. The mortality rate ranged as high as 40%.
During the 1850s and 1860s, 80% of the Chinese in California were spread throughout the mining areas. They were principally used in large company owned mines and had little hope of holding personal mining claims. They were disliked by most independent miners because of their race and their association with the large mining interests. The Chinese miners were also subject to the Foreign Miner's Tax. As primary contributors, they accounted for 50% of California's entire state revenues from 1850 to 1870.
After the decline of mining, the building of railroads became the focus of merchant interests. Irish immigrants were hired by the Central Pacific (CP) to start construction near Sacramento but many refused the debilitating work of carving a few feet of granite daily from the Sierra Nevada mountain range. In 1865, the CP hired 50 Chinese laborers on a trial basis and told them to carve a road through the mountains.
Pleased with the results, 10,000 Chinese were hired within 3 years and drove roadbeds through and over the mountain ranges. In the severe winter of 1866, Chinese crews worked and lived underneath the snow. Avalanches were frequent and buried many Chinese workers. Two of them were found dead, buried under 50 feet of snow with shovels in their hands. An 1870 news article reported the shipment of 10 tons of bones, representing 1200 Chinese railroad workers being sent to China for burial. Chinese were into other areas of work including sewing, shoe shops, etc. By 1870, they formed one-fourth of the state's employed but only one-twelth of its population.
Discriminatory laws were passed against the Chinese including exclusion acts, Chinese children were denied access to public schools and their parents were not allowed the rights granted to U. S. citizens. Tangrenbu or "Little China" ceased to exist after the 1906 earthquake. This proved fortuitous as all immigration records were destroyed making it impossible to determine which Chinese were in the United States illegally. For these newly created citizens, America now became a home instead of a prison.
This book contains 130 of the 200 Tangrenbu photographs in existence. Many of them have never been shown and a viewing makes it clear Genthe was enchanted with the innocence of children. He tended to take photos of special occasions in Chinatown, thus the ornate costuming in many of the prints. While Genthe did retouch some photos and erase objects from others, this does not detract from his body of work despite some fault finding by John Wei Tchen.
Genthe's photos are rich with the visual details of a bustling street life and of the affection shown by the Chinese for their families. This book provides a glimpse into a time and place long past and focuses a reader's attention on the plight of a unique people. After destruction of Old Chinatown, the Chinese embraced the 20th century. Occidental ways, dress, and customs transformed Little China from a forbidden section into a San Francisco tourist attraction.
This book lacks an index and one is sorely needed. Wei Tchen's extensive text adds enjoyment to the photgraphs as he illuminates each picture with revealing and fascinating comments. He has supplied chapter notes and these are very informative. The bibliography is limited and focuses on Genthe's volume of work and 19th century photography.
This books does an excellent job of stressing the importance of the Chinese people to the present day eminence of California and to the western states of America.

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130 rare photos offer fascinating visual record of Chinatown before the great 1906 earthquake. Informative text traces history of Chinese in California.

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