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Charles Yu’s mind-bending experimental novel Interior Chinatown was one of 2020’s most buzzworthy books. Now it’s been adapted into a limited series on Hulu starring Jimmy O. Yang, directed by Taika Waititi, released on November 19. Although it takes some significant departures from the novel, the series still plays with perspective and form, making for a wild ride full of action, humor, and thought-provoking surprises. We’ve got a refresher on the Interior Chinatown book, a look at the new series, and a few book recommendations for fans. (Because who would we be if we didn’t have a few book recommendations in our back pocket?) Let’s dive in!
About the Book Interior Chinatown
Interior Chinatown tells the story of Taiwanese American actor Willis Wu, who dreams of getting meaningful, substantive roles but is instead always cast as disappointing minor characters like Generic Chinese Male on the police procedural show Black and White. It’s such a recurring problem that Willis begins to feel like a background actor in his own life. As he attempts to climb the Hollywood ladder to his dream role of Kung Fu Guy, Willis meets an actress playing an undercover detective and starts to wonder if the roles laid out for him by writers and producers are really the only options available to him.
Written in an experimental screenplay form, Interior Chinatown is wildly creative and plays with perspective and character motivations in fascinating ways. It feels at some times like reading a script for Law and Order and at others like a reality-shifting breaking of the fourth wall à la Everything Everywhere All at Once. The format is a uniquely engaging way to explore topics of race, stereotypes, assimilation, family relationships, and identity. Interior Chinatown was the winner of the 2020 National Book Award; it was also a New York Times bestseller, shortlisted for the Le Prix Médicis étranger, and longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.
About the Author
Charles Yu is the author of Interior Chinatown, as well as the novel How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe and two short story collections. In addition to his fiction and nonfiction writing, Yu is a screenwriter who has worked on multiple shows, including HBO series Westworld, FX series Legion, and Disney+ series American Born Chinese. Yu served as the showrunner for the Hulu adaptation of Interior Chinatown and wrote the screenplays for the first and final episodes.
Yu is a first-generation Taiwanese American and has shared in interviews that his experience growing up as the child of immigrants in California played an important role in shaping Interior Chinatown.
About the Interior Chinatown TV Series
Hulu premiered the 10-episode limited series adaptation of Interior Chinatown on November 19, 2024. Author Charles Yu served as an executive producer and showrunner for the series. Taika Waititi is also an executive producer and directed the pilot episode.
The series grapples with similar themes as the book — stereotypes of Asian Americans and racist archetypes of Asian characters in media — and also involves a meta-world that plays with form. However, in the plot, it’s notably different from what readers experienced in the novel. The series leaves most of the family drama and challenges of life as an Asian actor on the page and instead focuses on the Black and White crime drama, adding layers of action film tropes and a mystery plot revolving around Willis’s missing brother. With various lighting, music, and dialogue styles, the show bounces between procedural crime drama, Kung Fu action flick, buddy comedy, rom-com, and more.
Considering the unique structure of the book, it was clear that the screen adaptation would have to make considerable changes for the story to work in a new medium. In the novel, Willis is aware of his role as a performer in the play he’s acting out. In the series, Willis lacks this self-awareness and instead seems lost in a strange world he doesn’t fully understand. I won’t hit you with spoilers, but this difference is a large driver in the plot of the series.
The series stars actor and standup comic Jimmy O. Yang (Silicon Valley and Crazy Rich Asians) as Willis Wu. Also featured in the cast are Chloe Bennet (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as Detective Lana Lee, Ronny Chieng (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) as Fatty Choi, and Archie Kao (CSI) as Wong.
Books Like Interior Chinatown
Interior Chinatown is known and beloved for its incredibly unique form, drawing inspiration from the structure of a screenplay and Asian American archetypes in pop culture. So while I can’t recommend any books exactly like Interior Chinatown, I can offer you these reading recommendations to enjoy after watching the new series.
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
The closest you can get to Charles Yu’s sense of humor and narrative innovation in Interior Chinatown is, unsurprisingly, in Yu’s other novel! How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe is another wildly creative story, this time set in the wild world of sci-fi novels. It stars a time travel technician in a speculative story-space where failed protagonists try to alter the past. If you love the creative approach to fictional worlds in Interior Chinatown, this book should definitely be next on your list.
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
If you enjoy how Interior Chinatown bends reality by breaking the fourth wall in a way that almost feels like fantasy, check out Gene Luen Yang’s fast-paced graphic novel American Born Chinese. It’s a story written for young readers, but the sharp sense of humor, perspective on the Chinese American experience, and familiar tropes flipped on their heads will appeal to fans of all ages who love Charles Yu’s work. (In fact, Charles Yu wrote for the Disney+ series adaptation.) As Jin Wang struggles to fit in at his new school, his story intersects with the great Chinese fable of the Monkey King and a sitcom-esque side plot of a cringe-worthy stereotypical Chinese teen who comes to visit his cool cousin Danny and nearly ruins his reputation. The interweaving of storylines and pop culture references makes it a thrilling and thought-provoking read.
Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou
When it comes to other books that keep readers on their toes with a sparkling sense of wit, action-packed plots, and dynamic Taiwanese American representation, Elaine Hsieh Chou’s Disorientation is a must-read. Ingrid Yang is holding onto her PhD studies by a thread, exhausted and eager to wrap up her dissertation and move on with her life. The trouble is, she can’t decide where to focus her studies. A professor pushes her to write about the legendary Chinese poet Xiao-Wen Chou. But when Ingrid stumbles upon a curious handwritten note in the margins of one of the poet’s works, it sends her on a wild adventure to uncover what it really means. It’s a cleverly layered, edge-of-your-seat book that you’ll never forget.
Colored Television by Danzy Senna
For another gripping and darkly funny story about racism in Hollywood and the barriers to telling authentic stories about marginalized characters, check out Danzy Senna’s brilliantly satirical novel Colored Television. Jane has spent years working on what she hopes will be her literary masterpiece, an epic starring biracial characters set across centuries. Meanwhile, she’s also been trying to get tenure and be a present wife and mother. When her book dreams fail to come to fruition, she sees a new opportunity to tell her story in a different medium: a TV series. But in Jane’s journey through screenwriting, she quickly realizes it’s not at all what the producers and network executives promised.