Daughter of the Dragon
Anna May Wong's Rendezvous with American History
by Yunte Huang
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Pub Date Aug 22 2023 | Archive Date Jul 31 2023
W. W. Norton & Company | Liveright
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Description
A trenchant reclamation of the Chinese American movie star, whose battles against cinematic exploitation and endemic racism are set against the currents of twentieth-century history.
Born into the steam and starch of a Chinese laundry, Anna May Wong (1905–1961) emerged from turn-of-the-century Los Angeles to become Old Hollywood’s most famous Chinese American actress, a screen siren who captivated global audiences and signed her publicity photos—with a touch of defiance—“Orientally yours.” Now, more than a century after her birth, Yunte Huang narrates Wong’s tragic life story, retracing her journey from Chinatown to silent-era Hollywood, and from Weimar Berlin to decadent, prewar Shanghai, and capturing American television in its infancy. As Huang shows, Wong’s rendezvous with history features a remarkable parade of characters, including a smitten Walter Benjamin and (an equally smitten) Marlene Dietrich. Challenging the parodically racist perceptions of Wong as a “Dragon Lady,” “Madame Butterfly,” or “China Doll,” Huang’s biography becomes a truly resonant work of history that reflects the raging anti-Chinese xenophobia, unabashed sexism, and ageism toward women that defined both Hollywood and America in Wong’s all-too-brief fifty-six years on earth.
About the Author: Yunte Huang, a Guggenheim Fellow, has taught at Harvard and the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he is a professor of English. The author of Inseparable and the Edgar Award-winning biography Charlie Chan, both National Book Critics Circle Award finalists, Huang speaks frequently about American popular culture.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781631495809 |
| PRICE | $30.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 384 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Reviewer 943104
Thank you to W. W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Yunte Huang provides an in-depth overview of Anna May Wong’s illustrious film career in Daughter of the Dragon. Born in 1905, Wong’s Chinese American heritage at first prevented her from reaching stardom in the U.S. but when she began acting in Europe and Australia, Wong experienced Hollywood icon status. She spent her early years with her family who owned a laundromat against the backdrop of heightened anti-Asian racism. When she began her career, Wong was featured in a few productions as an extra and in minor acting roles. It was Wong’s tragic main lead role as Lotus Flower in The Troll of the Sea that brought her critical acclaim. Huang stresses the importance of Wong’s place in the film because it was notably, the first technicolour production. Other films such as The Thief of Baghdad, Daughter of the Dragon, and Shanghai Express enabled Wong to open new doors for herself such as acting on Broadway and studying Peking Opera in Beijing. As her high profile in Hollywood dwindled because of ageism, Wong found other avenues to occupy her time such as premiering a China documentary and taking walks through Chinatown to revisit her childhood.
Huang’s work is well-researched and informative, featuring a collection of photographs from Wong’s career throughout the book. He also spends considerable amount of time exploring other important events aside from Wong’s life story such as Hollywood’s 20th century beginnings, the 1927 grand opening of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and Los Angeles’ history as a city. Huang explains how Chinatown signaled a huge demographic change for Los Angeles because the city provided Chinese immigrants a place to thrive as a community and endure decades of racism, discriminatory legislation, and violence. Overall, Daughter of the Dragon is a valuable contribution to film history and Anna May Wong, one of the U.S.’ most celebrated Asian American actors from Hollywood’s Golden Age.
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