There is also a place for Willis in the program. Karen is offered her own program which will enable the family to move out of the SRO and into the suburbs.

They fall in love, marry and have a child.

Willis meets the beautiful Karen Lee, who is playing a detective in one of the detective shows. “Dead Asian Guy”, “Old Asian Man”, “Black Dude Cop”-you get the idea. Everything is described in terms of racial identity. Black is the extremely handsome Miles Turner and White is the attractive Sarah Green. “Open a window in the SRO on a summer night and you can hear at least five dialects being spoken…” The SRO consists of seven floors of single room apartments with one shared bathroom on each floor, and the Golden Palace on the ground level.Īt the start of the novel Willis has a role in a detective drama with two police officers labeled Black and White (for their races). As result of discrimination against Asian Americans, Willis and his parents live in the Chinatown SRO Apartments. They met working in the Golden Palace restaurant. Willis’s mother was shifted from sister to sister in America and worked as a nurse’s aide. Willis’s father was highly educated, but because he was Chinese was unable to find work in his field or to live safely outside of Chinatown. Willis’s older brother, Older Brother, is extremely talented and foregoes the opportunity to become an actor and instead becomes a lawyer (which, let’s face it, is really just a different type of performance). Willis’s parents live separately and are borderline destitute in old age. You are not Kung Fu Guy.” Willis’s parents were also actors, playing minor parts throughout their lives and otherwise working at the Golden Palace. Willis is an actor, usually playing minor roles and longing to be “Kung Fu Guy.” “Ever since you were a boy, you’ve dreamt of being Kung Fu Guy. The story is told by Willis Wu, the adult son of Chinese immigrants. “Interior Chinatown” is a creatively conceived story of the difficulty of being Asian in America.

The interior chinatown