2020 selection · Literary fiction

Interior Chinatown

Willis Wu works as a background character in a cop show and dreams of becoming Kung Fu Guy. Screenplay formatting exposes how racial roles structure work and family history.

01

Why it matters

Yu turns television conventions into a critique of Asian American stereotyping.

02

Read this if…

You want inventive satire that reads like a screenplay and family story.

03

Ideas inside

Asian American identitystereotypestelevisionfamily

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National Book Award for Fiction — official winner recordOfficial record (opens in a new tab)