“Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and his Rendezvous with American History”
By Yunte Huang
W.W. Norton, 354 pages, $26.95
“Action speak louder than French.”
“Big head is only a good place for a very large headache.”
“Talk cannot cook rice.”
This sort of fortune-cookie wisdom had never held any charm for me. Only a smart friend’s recommendation led me to give this biography – of the fictional Charlie Chan, the real-life Honolulu cop who was the inspiration for him, and the writer of the Chan books himself – a try. And though I’m not rushing to Netflix for a Charlie Chan film, I can say the book’s praise is justly deserved.
Chinese-born Yunte Huang, who learned English by secretly listening to Voice of America on a rickety transistor radio, creates this world of Honolulu’s Chinatown from which the Cantonese Chan emerges. Chan was created by a Harvard-educated author, Earl Derr Biggers, who saw him as a base for six mysteries. Eventually more than 40 movies involving the Chan character were produced.
The book, a National Book Critics Circle finalist, offers more insight into the making of an icon than one could ever have predicted.
My cookie message: Listen to book recommendations from smart friends.