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| The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food | 
 enlarge | Author: Jennifer 8 Lee
Publisher: Twelve
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $12.05
You Save: $12.94 (52%)
New (51) Used (17) from $11.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  52 reviews
Sales Rank: 6271
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.2
ISBN: 0446580074
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5951
EAN: 9780446580076
ASIN: 0446580074
Publication Date: March 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Early PAPERBACK! The publish date is not until 3-23-09.
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| Customer Reviews:
 The Uniqueness of American Chinese Food Explored in Detail by a Globetrotting Journalist April 24, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Many of us take full advantage of the ubiquity of Chinese take out menus in order to provide a convenient alternative to our own home cooking. In the past several decades, it's evolved into a common ritual that has sparked the expansive research acumen of Jennifer 8. Lee, a 32-year-old New York Times reporter for the Metro section, evident in the potpourri of essays she presents in her book. Her focus is on American Chinese food, which is a distinct variation from authentic Chinese cuisine. Lee recognizes that so-called Chinese food represents a unique blend of culture and history that is not at all reflected in China today. It is more accurately described as food originated by restaurateurs of Chinese descent who started modifying dishes native to their homeland over a century ago to accommodate American tastes and adapt to local ingredients.
Interestingly, an oddly serendipitous event triggered Lee's book. In 2005, the multi-state Powerball lottery was nearly made bankrupt by the chance selection of numbers that appeared in a number of pre-printed fortune cookies with the accompanying message - "All the preparation you've done will finally be paying off". Over one hundred winners were announced throughout the nation with the same set of numbers, a true indication of the breadth of acceptance for American Chinese food. Lee frames her volume with this story by coming back at the end to explore the purely Western origins of what is being passed off as Confucian wisdom on those familiar slips of paper. In between is the meticulous level of research Lee conducted through her extensive global and stateside travels. She covers such recognizable phenomena as the chemically altered packets of soy sauce that have little if any connection to soy and the advent of the classic white take-out cartons.
American Chinese dishes such as chop suey and General Tso's chicken are explored. In one of her more entertaining anecdotes, she travels back to the general's birthplace to show pictures of his namesake dish and records reactions of disbelief and outright disgust. When in doubt, Lee comes back to the fortune cookie, billions of which are produced annually with the escalating pressure of producing new philosophical phrases in each one. As a journalist, the author is capable of making some intriguing observations. For example, whereas fast food chains have centralized operations, Chinese restaurants are dependent on an open-source system of "global localization" in which mutual success is built upon a constant exchange of workers willing to move to various locales throughout the country. Lee's fluency in Mandarin Chinese has also allowed her to uncover highly personal stories from those inside the business detailing the near-slave conditions of some operations and the sad story of a Chinese couple who set up a restaurant in rural Georgia only to lose their children to the state in the process.
Along the way, she also explains how centuries of Chinese emigration have infiltrated the most far-flung pockets of the world from Dubai to Jamaica to Mauritius. I just wish Lee was able to present the wealth of material in a more holistic fashion rather than relying on the tenuous cord provided by the omnipresent fortune cookies. Her scattershot approach seems to trivialize the subject, especially when she travels to a variety of exotic destinations to find the world's best Chinese restaurant. Judging from her candidates in San Francisco such as the upscale Shanghai 1930 and Tommy Toy's, I think her search feels rather cursory. Regardless, it's fascinating to consider the culture within a culture that the American Chinese restaurant business represents and how ingrained it has become within our larger society. Lee cleverly asserts if the benchmark for Americanness is apple pie, then one should take a closer look at how often one eats apple pie versus Chinese food. That's a valid point.
 Chop Suey Culture April 20, 2008
If you like Chinese food, you should read this book. It will tell you everything you should have wondered about chop suey, fortune cookies, the Chinese restaurant industry and the Chinese people who have brought more than food to the United States
Ms. Lee uses her healthy curiosity and excellent research skills to study something we generally take for granted -- Chinese food is so unbiquitous as to be invisible, except when we're hungry. Being the daughter of Chinese immigrants and a New York Times reporter gives Ms. Lee the right lenses for studying her subject and produces insights that are subtle, interesting and thought-provoking. For example: How best to know the actual output of a Chinese restaurant when thinking about buying it? Count the garbage bags in the alley. Why were did Chinese laundries and restaurants survive 19th Century bigotry against the Chinese? Because cooking and washing were women's work and didn't threaten the white male labor force.
Equally as good as Ms. Lee's insights is her writing style. She has a tone that is a bit ironic, a bit whimsical. She appreciates the goofiness of what she is investigating, but also treats the topic respectfully. These are fine balances for a writer to maintain. And she brings many of her points home with a tidy turn of phrase: "Young professionals loved the idea that food could come from a phone rather than a stove." Or, "Common wisdom from one culture is perplexing in another." Or, finally, by describing American soy sauce as a "Frankensauce chemical counterfeit."
Twenty Stars! April 13, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I read - a lot. I lend books I like to co-workers, (I've found that that's the best way to have them recommend books to me - new discoveries!)
So far I and three of my co-workers all loved this book. So that's how I got to twenty stars!
If you're trying to decide if you'll like this book, here's how to decide:
Are you insatiably curious? Do you read the cereal box and the milk carton at breakfast? Do you love a well written book? Do you like a book that you can put down after fifteen pages and pick back up two days later and not miss a thing? will you read a book about anything if it will keep you entertained? If you said yes to most of those, you'll like this book.
The Bookschlepper Recommends April 12, 2008
My husband is the foodie in the family but I was the one to buy this book and found it highly entertaining...and it made me hungry for kung pao chicken (authentic, I was pleased to learn). Determining the source of the ubiquitous dessert takes this Chinese-American writer down alleys in Japan, from NYC to San Francisco, and to the discovery of a distinct cuisine: Chinese-American, loved the world over as American. From chop suey to kosher duck to soy sauce and take-out menus, Lee examines Chinese food in the diaspora while redefining American food. "One benchmark for Americanness is apple pie. But ask yourself: How often do you eat apple pie? How often do you eat Chinese food?" Lee is a NY Times reporter and has a keen eye for detail and a ready wit whether she is explaining those little white boxes, soy sauce, immigration or a Portuguese Chinatown.
good read after a bit April 9, 2008
Fortune Cookie Chronicles takes bit long to get going but once she hits her writing stride it's an interesting read especially for those interested in ethnic food and restaurants. The personal case are somewhat difficult to relate to and that's good because in a great sense new worlds and experiences open up to the reader. Yes, I'm happy to have read it.
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