Chinese mythology and Hollywood legends collide in a mulitcultural maelstrom.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Ever want to become an actor? Longman Kwan dreams of playing Charlie Chan in the movies but instead finds himself stuck in dead-end roles, quite literally, as minor Chinese characters who die. Providing hilarious insight into Longman's patient humor, the novel is also filled with references to pop culture icons--TV, actors, movies. The Village Voice calls Chin a "literary gangster" with a method to his madness. His novel indeed takes us on a furious tour of four decades, from the '50s to today, showcasing the lives of a dreamer father and his cynical son.
From Publishers Weekly
An irreverent saga of a Chinese American family in California, this latest from the author of Donald Duk offers a satiric panorama ranging from ethnic stereotypes to Hollywood mythology.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My Favorite Azn Am Book of All Time,
By A Customer
This review is from: Gunga Din Highway (Paperback)
The dialogue is priceless in this novel! I'm going to read it again and again. It takes place mostly in the 60s, where our hero, Ulysses, grows up as a brakeman for the railroad. His father is a movie star who banks off of what Frank Chin calls the white "racist love" of America. What would that be? Well, being Charlie Chan's son, being a "neurotic, exotic" Asian, being a prostitute, dragon lady, or an effeminate, passive individual; all in all, having a westernized expectation of an Asian. Our hero, Ulysses, is the true Chinaman and you should make an effort to read this book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Frank Chin's Magnum Opus!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Gunga Din Highway (Paperback)
You won't be sorry. This book entails many of Frank Chin's thoughts on Charlie Chan, theatre, movies, railroads, etc. You can't help but tell how some of the events in Ulysses' life reflect that of Frank Chin's (you'll know what I mean when you read this book). Bear in mind though, this is a very thick and dense book. It'll make a good read as you travel (like how I did), but I go back to the book as a reference point on how Hollywood has stereotyped Chinese, or just to simply read great story and dialogue. Frank Chin is an expert on pointing out stereotypes, and you should be too. Why not start by reading Gunga Din Highway? For your information there is a movie entitled Gunga Din (stars Cary Grant) that is probably one of the most blatant racist movies I've ever seen. Furthermore, did you know that they were thinking about making Charlie Chan into a movie (starring the no-talent Russel Wong) as a some sexy Chinaman (Charlie Chan is an effeminate character)? Frank Chin comments that this won't help the Chinese image because it's like putting a black man in a Ku Klux Klan hood!Read this story about Ulysses who endures through a life surrounded by people who expect him to live like the stereotypical Chinaman. Are you living like that?
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My Favorite Book by Frank Chin,
By A Customer
This review is from: Gunga Din Highway (Hardcover)
I liked it more than DONALD DUK (although, I loved that book), because it's a step higher in experiencing how it is to be a Chinaman. Frank Chin has changed my life, but no other book has done it more than this one. Incidentally, Chin happened to be the first Asian in history to get a play produced in America. If you're interested, you should get it here ... Since his play came out it caused a storm of controversy, as this one will too.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
It's a long long flight from Hollywood to China on Pan American Airways' China Clipper. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
daylight manager, bok gum, way fon, pig media, plays flamenco, tarpaper shanty, opera man, peach garden, zombie movies, last white man, wrong movie, flamenco guitar, guitar maker, yard office Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Charlie Chan, China Brother, New York, Auntie Orchid, Number Four Son, Aunt Azalea, San Francisco, World War, Longman Kwan, Pandora Toy, Jason Peach, Fat Jack, Kwan Kung, Spencer Tracy, Big Aunt Willy, Black Tigers, John Wayne, Sherlock Holmes, Big Aunt Poppy, Diego Chang, Lowe Bay, Chinese American, Jane Fonda, The Chinaman Who Dies, Frank Sinatra New!
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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
It's a long long flight from Hollywood to China on Pan American Airways' China Clipper. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
daylight manager, bok gum, way fon, pig media, plays flamenco, tarpaper shanty, opera man, peach garden, zombie movies, last white man, wrong movie, flamenco guitar, guitar maker, yard office Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Charlie Chan, China Brother, New York, Auntie Orchid, Number Four Son, Aunt Azalea, San Francisco, World War, Longman Kwan, Pandora Toy, Jason Peach, Fat Jack, Kwan Kung, Spencer Tracy, Big Aunt Willy, Black Tigers, John Wayne, Sherlock Holmes, Big Aunt Poppy, Diego Chang, Lowe Bay, Chinese American, Jane Fonda, The Chinaman Who Dies, Frank Sinatra New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 33
books:
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10
books
cite this book:
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- Gunga Din and Other Favorite Poems (Dover Thrift Editions) by Rudyard Kipling in Front Matter, page 152, and page 395
- Seven Samurai: The Ultimate Film Guide by Akira Kurosawa on page 40, and page 228
- The Sense of Beauty: Being the Outline of Aesthetic Theory by George Santayana on page 308, and page 309
- Charlie Chan: Five Complete Novels: The House Without a Key; The Chinese Parrot; Behind That Curtain; The Black Camel; Keeper of the Keys by Earl Derr Biggers on page 14, and page 15
- Treasure Island by Robert L Stevenson on page 53
See all 33 books this book cites
- Racial Castration: Managing Masculinity in Asian America (Perverse Modernities) by David L. Eng in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Beyond Postcolonial Theory by E. San Juan on page 189, and Back Matter
- Assimilating Asians: Gendered Strategies of Authorship in Asian America (New Americanists) by Patricia P. Chu in Back Matter
- Men's Work: How to Stop the Violence That Tears Our Lives Apart by Paul Kivel in Back Matter
- Charlie Chan Is Dead 2: At Home in the World (An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction--Revised and Updated) by Jessica Hagedorn in Back Matter
See all 10 books citing this book
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