Judy M. (menzrob) - , reviewed Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History on + 81 more book reviews
A very good book that not only highlights the Charlie Chan of fiction (both written and movies), but tells the story of the very interesting life of the model for Chan, as well as a fair amount of history of the U.S., Hawaii, and China in the 20's & 30's. Well written!
Milton L. (cbd) reviewed Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History on + 2 more book reviews
Charlie Chan by Yunte Huang is a well researched and well written book about the development of the fictional Chinese detective from magazine to silver screen hero. In the process, the author provides a portrait of the real life Honolulu detective who provided the inspiration to Earl Derr Biggers and thoughtful commentary on the racial stereotypes in the movies. I found this book to be very interesting especially from the point of view of someone who had immigrated from China and whose interest in the subject was stimulated by the purchase of a Charlie Chan novel at a garage sale. This book is recommended for anyone who has an interest in the history of film or of the Hawaiian islands.
