Associated Press: “Go buy this wonderful book”
By Jennifer 8. Lee | March 2, 2008
The Associated Press has moved a review that ends by telling readers “Go buy this wonderful book” (okay, but only if they want to find the greatest Chinese restaurant in the world). It is a really flattering review and it will be picked up by papers across the country slowly over the next few weeks.
Adventures in the world of Chinese food
By JESSICA BERNSTEIN-WAX, Associated Press Writer
“The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food” (Twelve. 308 pages. $24.99), by Jennifer 8. Lee: If you’ve ever pondered the origins of chop suey, wondered who the heck General Tso is or spent hours analyzing a fortune cookie message, this is the book for you.
Scratch that. Lee’s inquiries into the cultural and historical phenomena behind Chinese food and its amazing spread around the world are so fascinating that anyone who has ever eaten a single egg roll should read her book.
more »
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Newsweek! An interview at Tang Pavilion
By Jennifer 8. Lee | March 2, 2008
Newsweek has a pretty lengthy feature in their books section this week by Jennie Yabroff (who asked really engaged questions about immigrations and bigger thoughts, where I really had to think, like didn’t have stock answers for).
For the interview, we went to Tang Pavilion, near the MoMA in Midtown East, which is known for its Shanghainese and Suchow food (But you can still get your General Tso’s chicken). We ordered a whole fish (eyeballs), jellyfish (jiggly), cold noodles (brr), and something green (always gotta have the vegetable dish).
It’s a pricier but nicer place. To celebrate my handing in of the manuscript, my sister’s bday and my brother’s passing of an actuarial exam, my family invited a whole bunch of people to go back in June.
Topics: Best Chinese Restaurants Around the World, Media & Interviews | No Comments »
Newsday says book smacks like chop suey: rich medley of flavors, odds and ends
By Jennifer 8. Lee | March 2, 2008
Newsday’s review is more mixed, generally positive with its main criticism (which is not unfair) being:
“The Fortune Cookie Chronicles” offers a rich medley of flavors that would be more delicious had the chef exercised some restraint: A clearer chronology and narrative line would allow each ingredient to sing. As it stands, Lee’s concoction, although tasty, smacks at times of chop suey – that catchall dish that translates from Cantonese as “odds and ends.” (full review after the jump)
The hardest part of constructing the book was coming up with a structure that I could hang everything on. It’s true. And I tried to have the thread carry us through, so a reader buys into it or doesn’t. ( The Fast Company criticism about it congealing like MSG-laden sauce is similar.)
Topics: Chop Suey, Reviews | No Comments »
The Chicago Tribune: “An information-packed page-turner”
By Jennifer 8. Lee | March 2, 2008
Yay. My first newspaper review. And it’s a nice one. My favorite line is where she calls it “also an information-packed page-turner.” I like this line too ” This kind of contextualizing and deepening of understanding is what the best food writing and literary journalism can do.”
Chicago Tribune
March 1, 2008 Saturday
West eats East; A fact-filled look at Chinese food, which just might be America’s national cuisine
By Bich Minh Nguyen
In the past few years the world of non-fiction has offered up a profusion of investigative books about food, from examinations of food culture (Eric Schlosser’s “Fast Food Nation,” Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”), to histories distilled into a bite (Mark Kurlansky’s “Salt: A World History,” Jack Turner’s “Spice: The History of a Temptation”), to experiments with cooking and eating (Julie Powell’s “Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen,” Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life”). These books speak to our increasing need to know where our food comes from, and how in the act of choosing a meal we are also participating in a global economy.In her absorbing new book, “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food,” New York Times reporter Jennifer 8. Lee (“8” connotes prosperity in Chinese) drives home the point that food culture is culture, and our dining habits reflect our identities, backgrounds and sociopolitical environments.
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Egg Drop Scoop in Rachel Ray
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 29, 2008
We got a 75%-page feature in the March issue of Every Day with Rachel Ray called “Egg Drop Scoop,” one of the ever growing number of puns off Chinese food.
Topics: Media & Interviews | No Comments »
Five-star review from chinesefood.about.com
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 29, 2008
Fortune Cookie Chronicles got a nice five star review on about.com from Rhonda Parkinson, (ignore the fact that the NYTimes owns about.com, I have absolutely nothing to do with that).
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles is an intriguing exploration into a world of Chinese restaurants, a subculture that remains unknown to most of us. My one tiny criticism is that some chapters in the book could have used color photographs. For example, it would have been great to have a photo of omikuji senbei (“fortune crackers”) – the thick Japanese cookie, with a fortune tucked in its outer folds, that researchers now believe is the original fortune cookie. But this is a minor quibble. Overall, this book is an excellent resource for anyone who is passionate about Chinese food.
True on the color photos, but that has to do with production issues. That is why I have this blog. To supplement the text with a more holistic, obsessive multimedia experience. More coming soon!
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I’ll be on The Colbert Report on March 4th
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 27, 2008
We booked it a while ago, but finally confirmed it. Thank god the writers’ strike is over!
Topics: Appearances | No Comments »
More Fortune Cookie Memoir: from Bill Stephens
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 26, 2008
I’ve become quite the magnet for fortune cookie tales both real and fictional. Bet you didn’t know there was a whole genre of fortune cookie writing, but there is.
Bill Stephens sent me an excerpt, chapter 25, for book proposal, ‘Uncorking & Forking: It’s Been a Good Life.’ www.billstephensbooks.com.”
Uncorking & Forking: It’s Been a Good Life, Good Fortune (Cookie)
It was the 1960’s, and I still traveled the world selling construction equipment during an eight-year hiatus between marriages. Because our equipment would be used to construct the San Mateo – Hayward Bridge across San Francisco Bay, and because several large contractors called San Francisco home, I spent many days per month in “The City by the Bay.â€
Topics: Chinese, Fortune Cookies | No Comments »
A meta-fortune cookie fortune
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 26, 2008
Barbara Brown sent this photo to me and a message: “Heard your intrview on NPR yesterday and wanted to share my favorite fortune ever. After a birthday dinner one year I opened my fortune cookie and read, ‘Ignore previous fortunes.’ I’ve never met anyone else who has gotten that fortune, nor do I want to. I still have it, though it’s been at least 15 years.”
Topics: Fortune Cookies, Quirky | No Comments »
A childhood of Chinese moms and dessert struggles
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 24, 2008
In my Food and Wine piece, I talk about how desserts totally mystified my family growing up — specifically these “bake sales.” Then I got a note from Patricia Ryan telling a sweet but sad story of her mother struggling with making desserts in her childhood.
Topics: Chinese Food, Reader Feedback | No Comments »
Fast Company compares Fortune Cookie Chronicles to MSG-laden brown sauce,
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 24, 2008
Fortune Cookie Chronicles gets a little blurb in Fast Company this month by David Lidsky, which comes out more positive than negative I suppose.
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food
By Jennifer 8. Lee
There are twice as many Chinese restaurants in the U.S. as McDonald’s, an accomplishment all the more astounding because it has happened without a single corporate force plotting the dominance of egg rolls and fried rice. Lee, a Chinese-American reporter for New York Times, traces the roots of the innovations that helped make the cuisine ubiquitous, including chop suey (San Francisco), fortune cookies (Japan), takeout containers (Hazelton, Pennsylvania), delivery (New York), and soy-sauce packets (Totowa, New Jersey). The book’s unifying conceit–tracking Powerball winners who used fortune-cookie lucky numbers–never quite congeals like MSG-laden brown sauce, but Lee throws in enough tasty morsels to make this book a pretty satisfying meal. –David Lidsky
We can debate whether the unifying conceit congealed or didn’t congeal. But one small point is that the conceit is actually tracking the path of the Powerball fortune cookies, not the winners themselves (which are over and done with in chapter 1).
So restaurants –> winners –> distribution –> factory. Interwoven with the origin of the fortune cookie, which goes San Francisco –> Los Angeles –> Kyoto, Japan.
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Video: Watch fortune cookies being handmade in Japan
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 23, 2008
Here, on the New York Times site, is the video of fortune cookies being made in Japan that went with my article. I’m not sure why they only put some videos on YouTube (about 150 at last count). Sadly, they don’t give you the ability to embed it either in the blog.
Topics: Fortune Cookies, Video | No Comments »
Welcome to General Tso’s hometown! Xiangyin, Hunan
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 20, 2008
This is the billboard from when I visited General Tso‘s hometown in rural Hunan province in my journey to find the source of General Tso’s chicken. (yes he is real, he played a huge part in suppressing the Taiping Rebellion, started by a guy who thought he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ)
It basically says Welcome to the Hometown of the Famous Qing Dynasty Figure General Tso, Xiangyin. (The transliteration of General Tso’s name in modern pinyin Chinese is Zuo Zongtang, å·¦å®—æ£ ). Zuo is roughly pronounced ‘juoh.’
Here is a close up of the General himself.
Topics: Chinese Food, General Tso | No Comments »
A reading at the busiest branch of the busiest library system: Flushing Library, June 2, 6 p.m.
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 20, 2008
This appearance is waaaaay in the future. But I am speaking at one my absolute favorite libraries in the United States — the Flushing branch of the Queens Public Library — on June 2 at 6 p.m. The Flushing branch is the busiest branch of the busiest library system in the country. (Perhaps also the most diverse?). I spent many a Sunday afternoon at that library. It’s awesome because it has books and CDs and DVDs that people actually want. It was renovated a few years ago (after I went to college) and is now beautiful.
Topics: Appearances | No Comments »
Hong Fu, you have to wonder if this was meant with irony
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 20, 2008
Driving along in Cupertino. Again, had to stop and take a picture
Topics: Chinese Restaurants, Quirky | No Comments »
NPR’s All Things Considered, today (Wednesday) at 5:50 p.m.
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 20, 2008
Updated: 6:25 p.m. | So my first national media interview will air today (Wednesday) at 5:50 p.m. on NPR’s All Things Considered with Michele Norris (who was an electrical engineering major, I discovered). The audio file will be available online around 7 p.m.
Thank god for excellent editing!
Topics: Media & Interviews | No Comments »
Book Page Review
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 19, 2008
Another review, this time from Book Page. Sorry for the jpg. I converted it from a pdf.
More on Book Page: On or before the first of March, 440,000 copies of this issue will arrive in more than 3,000 subscribing bookstores and public libraries nationwide. Next month, this review will also be available to the websites of more than 380 public libraries subscribing to BookLetters. Please note that these 380 libraries represent more than 15 million active patrons. BookLetters is a growing Readers’ Advisory and Custom Newsletter service that keeps library websites up-to-date with BookPage’s content rich, quality book news.
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A (brief) five star rating on Amazon?
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 19, 2008
I checked Amazon today and was surprised to see that my book is already in stock though launch day is not for another two weeks. (But don’t buy it yet. It’s better if everyone buys in the same week). Even more surprising, I already have a five star rating (which with one review, means I average at — for now – five stars.) And it’s not even like a friend of mine that I coerced, just a man who hasn’t even read the book yet. Rather he saw the excerpt in Readers’ Digest. (Which makes me wonder: Are you allowed to review a book if you haven’t read it?)
Topics: Book Musings | No Comments »
You CAN judge a book by its cover. So what does mine say?
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 19, 2008
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles cover gets a shout out by designer Christopher Tobias on his Outerwearforbooks blog as part of his Non-fiction Cover Genius Awards, launched Feb. 14. As he puts it:
Why do fiction books get all the glory? In my experience non-fiction is often more of a challenge to design than fiction. I guess it has something to do with the freedom that novels allow. With a novel there is a great deal more latitude with subject matter, tone, feeling, etc. But, with non-fiction, it is tight. Non-fiction deals with facts and with readers who want to know those facts. Making those kind of books look good and still retain the credibility that the book demands (how-to books, biographies, religion, etc.) is not easy. On one level you run the risk of making non-fiction look dry, academic and boring. On the other hand too much “creativity” might damage the very credibility that the book is trying to sell. Such a dilemma.
So, in honor of those designers who pull off non-fiction cover design successfully and get no respect, I thought I would start featuring some of them on this blog: the Non-fiction Cover Genius Awards. I hope to present good options. And, of course debate is welcome.
For those who wonder: Anne Twomey designed my book cover. One of the best parts is actually the spine (which you can’t see, but features chopsticks like at the top of this blog)
Topics: Book Musings, Chinese Food | No Comments »
Food and Wine: My struggles with the oven
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 18, 2008
The March issue of Food and Wine runs my essay on my struggles of learning how to use the oven. One of my favorite essays on food, by Jhumpa Lahiri, about how her parents would carry food back from India to Rhode Island before the days of easily accessible ethnic supermarkets, ran in this exact feature many years ago.
Anyway, the deal is that homes in China, even the supermodern apartments in Shanghai so not in general have ovens. Because Chinese people, in general, do not bake. They love steaming, but they do not bake.
As I explain, when I was growing up in New York City in the 1980s, we rarely used our oven, an ancient gas-powered model from the late 1950s with no internal lights, no window, no timer, no beeping alarms to let you know something was ready or going wrong. The oven was so old, it had to be lit with a match (which once resulted in a kaboom! and singed bangs when my babysitter only remembered that step several minutes after she turned on the gas).
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How to explain the Book of Leviticus in an atheist nation? China embraces Kashrut
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 18, 2008
In keeping with one of my favorite themes: Jews, Chinese and food:
The Chinese have gone Kosher, as Ching-Ching Ni explains in a fascinating piece in The Los Angeles Times from earlier this month (I’m catching up with my inbox!). According to Ching Ching’s piece, China is now the world’s fastest-growing producer of kosher-certified food, with more than 500 Chinese factories producing the approved products.
Some of my favorite lines:
It’s even hard for many Chinese to grasp the meaning of “rabbi.”
“Sometimes they call me ‘rabbit,’ ” Grunberg said. “I start hopping. They don’t get it. I let it pass. It doesn’t pay to explain.”
Topics: Jews & Chinese Food | No Comments »
Fortune Cookie Chronicles, recommended in Glamour Magazine!
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 18, 2008
Got an e-mail from my friend Eric with the subject line: “Just saw your book in glamour magazine.” He then wrote, “It was recommended reading by their book reviewer – you were grouped with 2 other books by female authors – cindy saved it”
So I made my way to Borders, bought my copy of Glamour magazine and found this:
Yay. Chinese food, so much cross appeal the book can be picked up by both Maxim and Glamour.
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A Persian-Italian-American restaurant?
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 18, 2008
I saw this while driving around Cupertino with my friend Janet, and was so amused that I made her stop the car so I could take a picture.
So the restaurant is called Arya. I checked out their menu and was disappointed that they didn’t actually blend the cuisines, rather it offers dishes from all three traditions separately So nothing like spaghetti with meatballs and pomegranate molasses?
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Book Forum Review: 80/20 or 75/25
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 16, 2008
A thoughtful review in Book Forum written by Melanie Rehak (who wrote a very cool book on Nancy Drew called Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her). Review is mostly positive, with some apt criticisms. It think it’s like 80 percent favorable, 20 percent negative, or maybe 75/25. Overall, pretty good review.
The restaurant she mentions in the opening of her review, Hunan Balcony, is actually started by childhood friend’s father, so my family ate there all the time when we were young. (We got a 15 percent discount, or was it 20?) My friend and I went to Chinese camp together.
Topics: Chinese Food, Reviews | No Comments »
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles Heads Down Under…
By Jennifer 8. Lee | February 16, 2008
Counterpoint, an Australian radio program, interviewed me in depth about the book. The interview will be available for about a month. I was quite impressed with how much they knew about the book, to the point where I assumed they must have read it. Then my next thought was “Did we mail a copy of this to Australia?!”
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