A Year on Angel Island is linked to UC Berkeley’s On the Same Page program, in which the incoming class is invited to read the same book before arriving at Berkeley and to participate in programs and discussions.
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
In this genre-bending book, all the world’s a stage, and all the people merely players. Some have named starring roles. Others are limited to nonspeaking background roles such as Ethnic Recurring, Generic Asian Man Number Three, and Delivery Guy. Such are the roles available to our protagonist, Willis Wu, whose highest aspiration is to become Kung Fu Guy in the long-running television series Black and White. By the end of the book, Willis comes to recognize the invisible, historical forces circumscribing his world, and struggles with what it would mean to break free and go off-script—to understand “How to feel, how to be yourself. Not how to perform or act. How to be”—and invites us to do the same. Exploring an American history of immigration, marginalization, assimilation, racism, and mass media, Interior Chinatown asks, “Who gets to be an American? What does an American look like?
More about On the Same Page here.
[Upcoming Event]
On the Same Page Presents – Interior Chinatown:
An Evening with Charles Yu and Philip Kan Gotanda
August 26, 7 – 8 pm
Hertz Concert Hall
Charles Yu will be in conversation with UC Berkeley faculty member Philip Kan Gotanda, Professor of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies. Professor Gotanda has been a major influence in the broadening of our definition of theater in America. Through his plays and advocacy, he has been instrumental in bringing stories of Asians in the United States to mainstream American theater, as well as to Europe and Asia.
This event is a part of On the Same Page, UC Berkeley’s way of welcoming our new students into the intellectual community. Each year, we feature a book, theme, or other work of art to provide the focus of a range of events, courses, and activities that bring our new students into contact with each other and our faculty.
Read more about the event here.