Charlie Chan The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History (Audible Audio Edition) Yunte Huang Alfred Gingold Audible Studios Books
Download As PDF : Charlie Chan The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History (Audible Audio Edition) Yunte Huang Alfred Gingold Audible Studios Books
Shortlisted for the 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography and the 2011 Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical Book.
Hailed as "irrepressibly spirited and entertaining" (Pico Iyer, Time) and a "fascinating cultural survey" (Paul Devlin, Daily Beast), this provocative first biography of Charlie Chan presents American history in a way that it has never been told before. Yunte Huang ingeniously traces Charlie Chan from his real beginnings as a bullwhip-wielding detective in territorial Hawaii to his reinvention as a literary sleuth and Hollywood film icon. Huang finally resurrects the "honorable detective" from the graveyard of detested postmodern symbols and reclaims him as the embodiment of America's rich cultural diversity. The result is one of the most critically acclaimed books of the year and a "deeply personal...voyage into racial stereotyping and the humanizing force of storytelling" (Donna Seaman, Los Angeles Times).
Charlie Chan The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History (Audible Audio Edition) Yunte Huang Alfred Gingold Audible Studios Books
Absolutely great read! Enjoyed the history and all the research the author did to put this magnificent book together. Didn't want it to end. This is one book that will never be sent to the used book store. A lot more history than I ever knew or imagined but what a ride. Was never aware of all the negative aspects of no-Chinese playing Chinese and the racist sentiment that evolved from these films. I always just enjoyed them for what they were a good mystery. Never delved into the social impact and the analysis of stereotypes of the actors and the parts they played. I had a multi-cultural childhood and never associated the stereotypes portrayed with real people. I always knew it was just a movie but I laughed and enjoyed the efforts of all the actors to entertain me and I appreciated all their efforts. I never dissected the characters deeper meanings and all and I still don't. Movies are entertainment and I enjoy them as such, similar to reading books. Great effort on the author's part!Product details
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Charlie Chan The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History (Audible Audio Edition) Yunte Huang Alfred Gingold Audible Studios Books Reviews
In 350 odd pages for less than 12 bucks - almost an 60 cents less for the edition (!) you will get a biography of the real Charlie Chan; the biography of the man who wrote the legendary Charlie Chan books; some of the filmography of the Charlie Chan actors and flicks plus more. The author is a Chinese born - American citizen, Ph. D. English professor and expert on subjects transpacific. The writing is breezy, easy to read and neither too scholarly (good!) nor too tightly edited (maybe not so good).
The real Charlie Chan was a Chinese peasant born self - made man. His real name Chang Apana. Chang began as a cowboy on a Hawaiian ranch and in steps earned his way from Animal Control Officer (first in Hawaii) to a highly respected police detective. He achieved all of this at a time and in a place where his race would be held against him. His police work would routinely be more dangerous than his self-made, preferred side arm a bull whip.
Earl Biggers was a competent mystery writer from the east coast of the US. On a visit to Hawaii, he would get to know about Chang Apana and build from this real person, one of the few ethic mystery detectives to become famous in the west. Biggers' Charlie Chan would be the wizened solver of crimes and source of "Confucian" aphorisms in 6 Biggers' books and more than 50 Movies.
In fleshing out the histories of these two men, Yunte Huang will tells us about his personal climb from Chinese poverty to the position of respected American Scholar and his travels to locate information on the several threads of this book. He will also give us his take, as a spokesman for Asians, on the problems of racism and stereotyping related to the continued popularity of the Charlie Chan character. This last point is worthy of its own study. However, this study like my abbreviated summary will not be as interesting as this book.
Chang Apena is a fascinating person. I would have liked to know more about him.
The tale of Biggers is about right in terms of detail and depth. There is perhaps too much on the Charlie Chan films. Then again, it is possible that the movies connect most people to Charlie Chan.
Besides, where else will you learn that the secret to speaking in the pigeon English that the directors wanted for Chan; was to be half drunk?
Professor Yunte Huang has a breezy, easy to read style. He is not tied to a tightly written narrative style. This can make the text more personal, but can also produce padding. He has a passion for his topic. The result is something like fan boy scholarship. The payoff is that you won't feel like you are being dragged through a college lecture.
Charlie Chan is designed to be light reading. This many layered biography is true to that model and therefore fun to read.
I was pleasantly surprised to read how a Chinese man could find positive aspects to the Charlie Chan stereotype. Prof. Huang saw positive things where I did not. Not only was his perspective unusually open, but his writing ability is exceptional for a non-native of English. I enjoyed his description of Chang Apana and Hawaii before World War II. Those times came alive for me as he portrayed Earl Derr Biggs meeting a real-life Chinese detective.
Prof. Huang's description of his own experiences in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Canton, Ohio, Buffalo, New York, and of course Harvard provided insights to how he came as an immigrant to our shores and grew to become an excellent professor of English. His own story is a testimony to the strength of his own character and his desire to achieve. As a grandson of immigrants (from Ireland and Czechoslovakia) who became fascinated with Chinese language and literature, I greatly enjoyed this book. Originally I started readomg it to learn about the "real Charlie Chan" but I was pleasantly surprised to learn so very much more--you might say I broke open my fortune cookie (such a quaint American custom) to discover many surprises inside.
Everyone who ever loved Charlie Chan and everyone who knows some of the history of the Chinese in the US should read this book. I enjoyed it and it filled in some gaps in my knowledge of history. If you like Charlie Chan, if you like knowing the truth about history then this book is for you.
Absolutely great read! Enjoyed the history and all the research the author did to put this magnificent book together. Didn't want it to end. This is one book that will never be sent to the used book store. A lot more history than I ever knew or imagined but what a ride. Was never aware of all the negative aspects of no-Chinese playing Chinese and the racist sentiment that evolved from these films. I always just enjoyed them for what they were a good mystery. Never delved into the social impact and the analysis of stereotypes of the actors and the parts they played. I had a multi-cultural childhood and never associated the stereotypes portrayed with real people. I always knew it was just a movie but I laughed and enjoyed the efforts of all the actors to entertain me and I appreciated all their efforts. I never dissected the characters deeper meanings and all and I still don't. Movies are entertainment and I enjoy them as such, similar to reading books. Great effort on the author's part!
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