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.jpg) First edition | |
| Author | Louis Chu |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Lyle Stuart |
Publication date | 1961 |
| Pages | 250 pp. |
| ISBN | 978-0-295-95607-7 |
| OCLC | 444846003 |
Eat a Bowl of Tea is a 1961 novel by American writer Louis Chu. It was the first Chinese American novel set in Chinese America.[dubious – discuss] Because of its portrayal of the "bachelor society" in New York's Chinatown after World War II, it has become an important work in Asian American studies.[1] It has been cited as an influence by such authors as Frank Chin and Maxine Hong Kingston.[2] It was made into a film of the same name by Wayne Wang in 1989.
The novel focuses on four primary characters: a young married couple, Ben Loy and Mei Oi, and their fathers, Wah Gay and Lee Gong. Chu uses their stories to illuminate conflicts between Chinese ideals and traditions and contemporary American society.
- ^ Shunzhu Wang, "Louis Hing Chu," Asian American Novelists: A Bio-bibliographical Sourcebook, ed. Emmanuel S. Nelson, Greenwood Publishing, 2000, p.69. Accessed through Google Books 4 August 2009.
- ^ Bella Adams, Asian American Literature, Edinburgh Critical Guides, Edinburgh University Press, 2008, p.76. Accessed through Google Books 4 August 2009.