I wasn’t familiar with this director before reading this book but it was a good way to be introduced. I liked learning how he discovered his love for movies and filmmaking. It was nice to read about how his family supported him and background about his family life. Also nice to discover his disappointments as well as his triumphs. It didn’t take long to get into the story and I was a bit sad once the book finished because I could have kept reading. I learned that he is directing the Wicked movie so I’m eager to check that out. I loved learning about him and his life and encourage others to check it out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

This was such a great read! I've loved some of Jon M. Chu's movies, and am extra excited to see Wicked this fall, so I was especially looking forward to reading VIEWFINDER and learning more about Chu's life and career. This is a story of following your dreams and finding out where you belong, as Chu takes us through his personal and professional journey, from growing up as cinephile and a first-generation Chinese American in Silicon Valley, to becoming a celebrated director who brought his talents to Hollywood. I really enjoyed getting a behind-the-scenes look into so many great movies, and thought the memoir was so engaging and well-done overall! I can't wait to see what Jon M. Chu does next. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

A Fascinating Introspective!!

As a person who loved Crazy Rich Asians, I couldn’t resist this book. An intricate look into how this author made his way to making movies, and being raised as an Asian American. A very engaging and relatable story which I found to be both revealing and entertaining.

Incremental technology advances, movie magic innovations, influential directors, family, school and so much more. Very well done, and insights such as the dumpling making scene came from his real-life experience.

The book sequel to Crazy Rich Asians is out, and was excellent, titled Lies and Weddings. I hope they turn this into a movie with Jon M Chu as director.

A well written look at John CHU the director of Crazy Rich Asians.He shares his childhood experiences growing up & his on set experiences.Enjoyed getting to know him and his unique view of Hollywood. #netgalley#randomhouse

This was an engaging read about a time and world that I was only tangentially familiar with. Chu is a few years older than I am so the movies, music and tech he references brought back some fun memories. Hollywood then (or now) might as well be on a different planet from me for as little as I understand about the lifestyles and attitudes and ambitions of players in that world. I'm not much of a film buff so that part didn't appeal to me, while the development of the technology along with film tech was very informative and engaging for me.

Review posted to StoryGraph and Goodreads as of 7/20/24. Review will be posted to Amazon on release day.

A quick memoir read into the life of director Jon M Chu. I enjoyed different stories about his family and the talk about his time on Crazy Rich Asians and how it helped him in accepting the power of being fully himself in life and Hollywood. One of the things that I didn’t enjoy so much were the random boxes that would appear in the middle of the text to add in another quick story that didn’t fit in at the moment. It interrupted the flow of each chapter and I found myself confused as to whether I was supposed to stop to read them or come back to them after finishing the chapter. I also found myself wanting Chu to dig just a bit deeper. There were all these moments in the book where it felt like he was about to be very open and honest about moments in his life or career and then it would stop right at the surface. In the end the memoir read more as a marketing tool for Wicked which is Chu’s upcoming project that studios have put a lot of money into. 3.5 stars/5.

Wow, I ended up dropping a bunch of other books on my list to finish this one! I am not even a huge film person and knew nothing about Jon before I opened the book, but I love learning about interesting people and I loved "Crazy Rich Asians", so I requested this book through NetGalley as an early reader.

Jon M. Chu is first and foremost a storyteller. This book proves that he doesn't need a camera to achieve that. I absolutely loved every bit of this book from learning about his childhood in Silicon Valley, to struggling through film disasters. He gives his life lessons in blocks of text along the way. I found it all fascinating and I think many other readers will, too. Great if you like biographies, film, are interested in the progress of Asians in Hollywood, want to learn a bit about how Netflix affects what we see, and just want a great story about human life. Definitely a great follow up for book clubs who have read "Crazy Rich Asians".

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. I read hundreds of books each year and this so far is in my top 10. #sponsored

3.5 stars! I loved "Crazy Rich Asians" so I requested this memoir after realizing the author was the film's director. I enjoyed getting to know more about Jon and reading about his life and career. I see that the sequel is set to begin filming in 2025 - it can't come soon enough. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review - pub day is 7/23/24!

I really enjoyed reading this book about Jon Chu. It was a fascinating look into his life and what makes him choose what movies to take on and what he wants to portray in each one. I can't wait to see his take on "Wicked"! Highly recommend this one if you like a good memoir.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC!

For better or worse, Jon M. Chu’s "Viewfinder" is a memoir constructed like a biopic, offering bombast, palatable revelations, and a protagonist that is likable to a fault.

With the forthcoming release of the "Wicked" movies, there’s never been a better time for this book. Despite helming a few massive commercial successes, Chu has been a bit of an enigma, largely remaining—or being contained—behind the scenes. His early career was as a journeyman director for big-budget sequels, and that status carried into "Crazy Rich Asians," even when the movie itself showcased a distinctive vision. Viewfinder attempts to find some continuity between each of Chu’s projects, though it’s at its best when it doesn’t.

Parts of this book are exceptional, particularly the chapters surrounding the development and production of "Crazy Rich Asians" and "In The Heights." They showcase the intentionality that Chu brings to projects that could easily be big, dumb fun. He cares. This is clearest in his description of a bidding war between Netflix and Warner Bros for "Crazy Rich Asians." Although Netflix was the “smarter” choice, Chu opted for the latter’s lowball offer because of the symbolic heft of the studio’s legacy and the theatrical experience. He’s just a guy who loves movies and what they mean. Each time Viewfinder offers these glimmers of something personal, it shines. Chu has so many unmade passion projects, and his humility is admirable. I mean, he chose to direct "Step Up 2" because he decided his mother’s judgment was better than Steven Spielberg’s.

But a lot of this book just doesn’t work.

Many of the critiques leveled at Chu’s movies are true of "Viewfinder"—it’s an effective, stylish pastiche of familiar narrative beats. We see a Forrest Gump-like charmed life where famous people populate the margins and hard work always pays off. I don’t fault Chu for this issue—I think the problem originates with his cowriter, Jeremy McCarter. There are too many moments where readers can feel strained attempts to add connective tissue that simply isn’t there. For example, Chu’s excitement about technology is contorted into prophetic insight about the role of the internet. One gets the sense that McCarter refuses to allow many of these life details to just “be”—they always need to constellate into a simple connect-the-dots pattern. Readers are then presented with dueling images—the Jon Chu whose career has been driven by creative risks and a scrappy, excited exploration, and the fully-formed cinematic genius whose life is essentially promo for "Wicked."

It’s a strange feeling to wish a book were a little rougher around the edges, but that's the case here. If you’re interested in movies, it’s a good time; if you’re interested in Jon M. Chu, you won’t necessarily see too much of him in this "Viewfinder."

I loved this memoir and felt it was really well done. Jon M. Chu talks about his childhood growing up in Silicon Valley, his lifelong love of movie making, his struggles grappling with his identity and it's impact on the choices he made in his career. I connected deeply with Jon's story because of the parallels with my own life - growing up in the bay area, being distinctly Asian American and reconciling both parts of that identity, being an early adopter of YouTube and finding myself in the Asian American creators that were early utilizers of the platform. However, even without these parallels I think Jon's experience and the insight we get into the behind-the-scenes of some of his widely popular films makes this memoir such an engaging read.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this e-arc.*

Viewfinder by Jon M. Chu is a fantastic memoir that shows not only the love of film that inspired Chu but also his childhood, family and heritage that made the Crazy Rich Asians director who he is today.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC!

This biography was sooo engaging and interesting! Jon M. Chu's life is fascinating and I loved being a fly on the wall in all of his stories. I definitely plan to look out for his movies in the future.

Thank you again for the ARC!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Random House and to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I really didn't know much about Jon Chu before reading this book, but he has had an interesting life. I thought that this book got a little bogged down with his early life, but most of it was really fascinating.

I understand that the author broke some barriers for Chinese Americans in the film industry, but I just could not get into the details of his upbringing. It was just way too much information for me. Someone should have edited this book down to where it just started with his experience in the film industry in California. A lot of people are first generation Americans and understand what growing up with immigrant parents is like.

WOW! What an extremely inspiring read! I knew nothing about Jon Chi before I started reading this book.
Interesting learning about all the process of directing films.I loved all the parts about the behind the scenes of making Crazy Rich Asians. I was lucky to have met Kevin Kwan when he came to my book club after the book was released.
This was a powerful memoir. The preservance, creativity speaks of Jon finding a place where he belonged.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this book.

This was an interesting insight into Jon Chu's early life and its influences on his films. Besides Crazy Rich Asians, I did not know the details of his early career or how he first got started. I also learned more about the intricacies of movie-making and the impact of streaming services on the movie industry. Having a front row seat and getting to take a closer look at some of the decisions made for Crazy Rich Asians was one of my favorite sections of the book. I am now even more eagerly anticipating the release of the film version of Wicked (the musical). I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the process of directing films, anyone who wants some "behind the scenes" into the making of Crazy Rich Asians, and anyone looking for a story about finding your way and artistic expression.

This was such a fun behind the scenes look at a movie maker I've followed for many years. I really enjoyed learning about his childhood and how that shaped what he ended up doing today. A great read for anyone interested in the movie industry especially through the eyes of a non-nepo baby :)

An interesting and entertaining memoir. This book will hit for folks who like a Hollywood insider point of view and also for those interested in immigrant stories.

Jon Chu recounts his childhood growing up as a first generation Chinese American in Silicon Valley, his lifelong love of making movies, and his journey of "making it" in Hollywood. Chu is an engaging storyteller and I was pleasantly surprised by how fast I was sucked into his story. I was especially fascinated by some of the behind-the-scenes tidbits that he shares from his various movies.