This is a really lovely, at times just absolutely hilarious, and intensely moving book. It's an experience that's familiar but yet is so intimately unique.

I really enjoyed this book and I felt I learned so much about the Chinese culture and all the things that families face each and everyday. The author made each page seem so real with life in the restaurant and then the family issues of the son being gay. This book was really good. A very easy and good read.

Curtis Chin is a fantastic writer. Every description makes this memoir play out like a movie. I loved the focus on food and family. It felt as though you grew up with him, especially as you bear witness into his coming into his own identity outside of his family. A wonderful read!

This was such an interesting memoir to me. The author is from Detroit, so it felt familiar! Curtis Chin discusses his life growing up as the middle child of a Chinese American family. His family owned a restaurant in Detroit that was very popular in its heyday, and the stories he tells from his childhood, young adult, and college years are so interesting. From him discovering his sexuality to chasing his dream as a writer, it was inspiring and relatable at the same time.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have been hearing about this book, story of a Chinese guy in his journey as a gay man and the lessons that his family Chinese restaurant in Detroit taught him.
While I enjoyed the book about his family dynamics and the restaurants and how if changed along with the city of Detroit, i got lost as he write about his sexual desire. that portion of the book I felt threw me off at time the narrative of his journey, his relationships with his family and the family restaurant.
This was an easy book to read but portions of it I felt distracted me from the book.

I loved this memoir. Chin’s writing, his amazing family, the Detroit backdrop, his struggles to find his place in the world really resonated with me.

Really recommend this book!

Chins memoir Chronicles, his coming of age story in a large Chinese immigrant family. I liked the memoir, but I feel as though they had pacing issues, and that the story didn’t follow a clear timeline, but my favorite portion of the book was food description it made me very hungry while reading. Overall, I feel as though this is a good memoir, and I would recommend it.

Thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

Chin’s memoir is my favorite kind of book: a quick read, humorous turns of phrase, heartfelt, smart, and thought-provoking. So many parts of this book felt familiar: the cultural touchstones of growing up in the 1980s, the dynamics of a large, multigenerational family, and the Chinese restaurant staples which Chin lovingly describes.
And yet within that familiarity, I appreciated learning about a childhood which was so different from my own. The family restaurant was in a rough part of Detroit, and it was eye-opening to see how they navigated day-to-day living in a place where wasn’t unusual to come in one morning and learn that the proprietor down the street had been murdered the night before.
He also described the effect of anti-Asian racism, especially after the killing of Vincent Chin who was murdered by two white auto workers in a racially motivated assault. He recounts the time that his dad confessed that he and his wife could not guarantee their children's safety. It didn't matter if the children earned straight A's, or if their restaurant was on all of the "Best of Detroit" lists, they could not count on the police to take their side.
Add to that, Chin's struggles to figure out how to live as a gay man in a culture that is hostile to his identity, and you have a life that injects quite a bit of drama into this memoir. Yet, Chin doesn't let his story became an unrelenting slog through hardship. He treats us to the lighter moments, the childhood adventures, the lovable eccentricities of relatives, and the delicious food that formed the backdrop of his life.
I received a copy of this book in return for an unbiased opinion.

I loved this coming of age memoir -- I loved the framing device of the Chinese menu, I loved learning more about the history and evolution of Detroit, and I loved learning more about Curtis Chin's experiences growing up as a gay Chinese-American kid in majority-Black Detroit and majority-white suburban Troy. I loved reading about the way his self-identity shifted as he grew older and was exposed to more of the world outside the confines of his family or his neighborhood. I loved reading about his complex, challenging, deeply loving family. This beautiful book made me laugh, made me think, and brought me to tears more than once. Thank you for writing it, Mr. Chin, and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read an advance copy.

This book talks about growing up in Detroit, being part of a large family (American born Chinese) running a restaurant, and self discovery in difficult times.

Curtis is a great story teller; the food menu references were quite clever, and the structure of this book was incredibly well composed. This book had so much emotion, an incredible sense of humour, and was overall a wonderful read about self discovery.

An authentic, personal story with a great framing device (a "typical" Chinese restaurant menu.) It hits all the expected notes, highlighting the challenges of being both queer AND a minority in a city in turmoil, then counters the sour taste with just the right seasoning of humor and hope. It leaves a good taste in one's mouth like that. Thanks for giving us a few glances inside an extraordinary life.

This is a coming of age story. It is a memoir of what it was like growing up in a n immigrant Chinese family whose life centers around the family restaurant. Curtis Chin is a Chinese American who grew up with his 6 siblings, parents, grandparents, uncle, and cousins all having a role in the daily workings of the restaurant. Add to this that the restaurant was located in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods of Detroit; where shootings and fire bombings were a daily affair. Where racism toward the Chinese family is commonplace in a predominantly African American community. And just for fun, let's throw in the fact that Curtis is gay and doesn't really understand what to do with that information.

This is a charming piece of writing. It is witty and heartwarming and gives us a look into a culture that many of us know little or nothing about. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

A very well-written, engaging memoir. Chin's writing and storytelling draws in the reader and pulls them along for the ride. Touching on topics such as race, politics, and sexuality, his book is never preachy and makes the reader feel welcome.
Be aware, after reading this book, you will be hungry, so make sure you have snacks to hand!

curtis chin's memoir "everything i learned, i learned in a chinese restaurant" explores asian identity and queer identity very well. however, this wasn't an enjoyable memoir for me. it was very bare bones. it didn't have much emotion either. this was the type of memoir that could be a conversation with a new friend over a drink at the bar. for someone who says that "poetry saved me" it's not very poetic.

i did enjoy how the sections were split up like that of a chinese restaurant menu. the descriptions of food were good, but not excellent and mouthwatering. i did not love how jewish people were portrayed as only wanting to speak about business and their children. we're not a monolith.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

The comfort food version of a memoir.

Whether you’re an adult or a child, figuring out who you are is tough. Accepting who you are can be even harder! In his memoir, Curtis Chin illustrates that it’s okay to look in the mirror with eyes wide open, and it’s okay to love what you see. From studying the gregarious charm of his father to uncovering the sacrifices of his mother to finally saying aloud the most terrifying and liberating two words of his life (“I’m gay.”), it was fascinating to read how the various situations that Chin found himself in influenced who he is now and the person he may still be growing to become. Anyone who is looking for a life-lesson-filled memoir garnished with laughs and prepared with love should order their copy of Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant immediately!

♥I read an ARC of this book sourced through NetGalley. ♥

I was intrigued by the title of this book, not knowing what to expect. I expected humor. Yes, there was humor, ur so much more. Curtis Chin’s family owned a Chinese restaurant in downtown Detroit. This memoir was not only about Curtis’ coming-of-age in a family of six children whose parents had high expectations of all their children, but also Curtis’ realization that he was gay and his journey to that realization. I learned so much in this memoir in addition to Curtis’ family tales: the sequence of events in Detroit, the inner working of a Chinese restaurant and the food, the difficulties of growing up in a culture and living in a wider culture. I highly recommend this memoir!

Funny, I love the way Curtis Chín telling the story in friendly way and humor sense. Daily stories under his writing becomes flavors in life.
This book is a light for those who are lost. Read it and feel more colors in life out there.

I read this as an ARC provided by the publisher, and I also interviewed the author, Curtis Chin, for an upcoming article.

Chin's memoir is a touching, sometimes claustrophobic, bare bones narrative of growing up the child of Chinese American restauranteurs, owner's of Chung's in Detroit's Cass Corridor, which for a long time was prominent as the core business in Detroit's second Chinatown. It's at points fearless and proud of the family accomplishments, at recognizing the racism of Detroit's suburbs, and heartbreaking, as the story of a queer Chinese American kid coming to terms with his sexuality in an immigrant family where expectations weigh on you, and during the 1980s AIDS epidemic where being gay was often seen as a death sentence. My heart literally hurt during these moments, but they were also my favorite.

As a reader, I felt the book was initially slow for me to get into because of the style, but I am glad I stuck with it. There's something about the spare prose, and the very honest unvarnished memories he shares that make the storytelling so effective. It brings up so many important topics for Asian American, immigrant, and queer literature: filial piety and the responsibility of children to their parents; the pain of understanding your parents as real, whole, flawed people; understanding your boundaries and your obligation to elders and your obligation to yourself as an individual; the importance of found family; understanding and appreciating the circumstances that raise you.

As someone with limited experience in Detroit, but whose been studying the evolution of Asian ethnoburbs in Southeast Michigan, and whose entire experience of the Cass Corridor has been from the past eight years and mediated through the careful lens of the Allied Media Conference, his depiction of Detroit and his family's restaurant is both painful yet full of loving nostalgia. There's so much affection and love for the city, and such an important addition to the Asian American literary canon.

I'm still thinking about the book weeks after I read it, so I think that says something about the storytelling. Stylistically, it's rather unique compared to other Asian American memoirs, it's brusque and somewhat sever, and yet it reflects the author perfectly.

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown and Co for this arc. Curtis Chin’s memoir “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant had lots of funny parts as well as it did a great job of depicting what it was like to grow up in Detroit as a second generation Chinese American. It doesn’t gloss over the dangerous and gritty aspects, but it did drag a little. It continues with the process of his coming out and that journey. Again it was a real honest deputation with anll the good and bad aspects and humor woven in. Overall I really liked this book.

Curtis Chin’s Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant, is a nuanced, intersectional memoir that offers a fresh perspective on coming of age in America in the 80s. If you’re like me and are tired of 80s narratives monopolized by the same middle-class white suburban nostalgia over arcade games, mixtapes, or Star Wars movies, this book provides a welcome antidote. Here we get to see a young Asian American boy grow up in the midst of rising inequality in Detroit, navigate attitudes surrounding race in the wake of the 1982 murder of Vincent Chin, and come to terms with his sexuality during the era of Reagan and the AIDS epidemic.

Chin writes in a conversational and humorous tone that makes this an enjoyable read. The book as a whole could’ve been more cohesive; there are many strands that seem significant but get dropped and never brought up again — such as a scene when the Chin family buys their first house only to discover that a neighbor has written “Jap” in their driveway, or the first time Curtis encounters a transgender person while working at his family’s restaurant and rather than finding camaraderie with another member of the LGBTQ community, is instead subjected to ignorant and racist remarks. There were so many of these perspectives where I wanted to know more about how they framed his thinking about his own identity. Sometimes the transitions between anecdotes can be a bit jarring where additional reflection would’ve helped to bring home the larger themes.