Eat a Bowl of Tea (Magill’s Choice: American Ethnic Writers)
At a glance:
- Author: Louis H. Chu
- First Published: 1961
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Social realism, Domestic realism, Satire
- Subjects: New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Parents and children, Love or romance, New York City, 1940’s, American Dream, Asia or Asians, Immigration or emigration, Fathers, Barbershops or barbers, Multiculturalism, San Francisco, Asian Americans, China or Chinese people, Chinese Americans, Confucianism
- Locales: Chinatown, San Francisco, CA, Chinatown, New York
The Work
Widely acclaimed by Asian American writers and critics, Louis Chu’s Eat a Bowl of Tea is the first Chinese American novel that realistically depicts New York’s Chinatown bachelor society in the United States shortly after World War II. The novel focuses on the struggles of a young Chinese American who attempts to define his identity.
As the novel opens, it is revealed that the protagonist, Wang Ben Loy, a bridegroom of two months, has become impotent. Ben Loy is a Chinese American in his twenties, a filial son, obedient to his Confucian father, Wah...
[The entire page is 683 words long]
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