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Title: The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food
ISBN: 0446580074
Author:
Jennifer 8 Lee
Publicate Date: 2008-03-03
Publish: 2008-03-03
List Price: $24.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $12.48
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $13.48
Amazon Merchant Price: $16.49
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Fascinating Insight
Overall a good read. Rather than a continuous narrative the book is broken up into sections that are not entirely complementary but which tell a number of stories related to the origins of Chinese food in America. I was amazed by some of what I read; have repeated a number of the anecdotes already, and found it an overall interesting topic. I think few people are aware of how much Chinese food really does permeate our culture --- and few people are also aware of how intricate, centrally-managed, and lucrative the network of Chinese restaurants in America actually is.
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2: Fascinating book
I found this book really fascinating. I'm really intrigued by food history, and Lee made me think alot about so-called "authentic" food. I recommend this book, and have already to my friends and family.
Joan
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3: Pass the chopsticks, please
When you think about it - it is amazing there aren't any national chains with Chinese restaurants in every town. But this book explains why. It's an amazing story of immigration to probably 99% of the cities and towns in America. No matter where Americans travel in the US - we want Chinese food - and we get it!
A very interesting story of cultures and their expectations. It makes me wonder how Amerians in China for the Olympics are eating! Are they eating "Real Chinese food" or what we have come to expect of Chinese food!
Great story, with many interesting things to learn.
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4: Good, could have been a bit better
As others have said, Ms. Lee writes very well, and most of this was really interesting. But she has a total blind spot about fortune cookies, and for me, there was WAY too much stuff about trying to research exactly who invented them. When I realized that I was starting a THIRD chapter on this same subject -- which she'd already covered exhaustively in two previous chapters -- I groaned inwardly and just skipped to the next chapter. OK, we get it: fortune cookies are not Chinese, any more than General Tso's chicken or chop suey. Except for this one flaw, the book was a lot of fun.
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5: Take-out observations on an American obsession...
Jennifer Lee has written an engaging book on the phenomenon of Chinese food in America. It is filled with factoids that most likely you did not know before, such as the fact that there about twice as many Chinese restaurants in America as there are McDonalds.
She delves into such arcana as the origin of General Tso's chicken, the history and anatomy of fortune cookies, the making of those trapezoidal carry-out food boxes, why Jewish people especially love Chinese food and a stroll through the best Chinese restaurants in the world.
It would be tempting and a clich?? to say that, thirty minutes after reading it, you're hungry for more. Alas, that line has apparently been taken by a prior reviewer.
If you enjoy Chinese food, you will enjoy "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles."
Confucius say, "You have a fun reading ahead of you..."
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