The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food

This took months to read as it traveled with me everywhere in my purse, ready to be read in an emergency waiting situation. I don't know how I ended up with this book, but it was well-written and absolutely fascinating. I hadn't previously cared to know anything about Chinese restaurants, illegal Chinese immigration, fortune cookies, soy sauce, etc., but each chapter's introduction enticed me to the point where I immediately had to know all about this next subject. I learned about this intense Jewish connection to Chinese food, all about, and I mean ALL about fortune cookies, our own government (especially regarding these food departments that I never knew existed), the Chinese restaurant network, immigration policy & its failures, show more General Tso's chicken, Chinese, American and Chinese-American culture, and so much more (although it did make me hungry for Chinese food throughout). I was especially delighted with the author's own research process; she's my new hero. I recommend this book to anyone. I certainly can't think of anyone who's particularly looking to learn about these things, but the book will intrigue anyone interested in learning about culture and the story behind things around us. show less

I wasn't expecting this culinary history to be as well-researched, as witty, and as outright funny as it was! In some parts wistful, some tragic, and always intriguing and humorous, she tells us of the evolution of American-Chinese food as we know it (Pupu platters, Mogu Gai Pan, General Tso's / General Gao's Chicken, etcetera) and how it's tied with the fortune cookie - which has its own strange origin stories. Read, laugh, enjoy, and appreciate the search for your favorite take-out/eat-in place all that much more.

Entertaining and informative. It took me a little while to get used to how much the narrative rambled -- I'm more used to more linear foodie memoirs -- but the topics were so interesting I got beyond that. (Who knew that fortune cookies were probably invented by the Japanese? Or that Chinese restaurants get bought and sold so frequently?) I do wish this was longer; the section on Lee's travels in search of the top Chinese restaurants certainly deserves more space than it got.

I loved this book! Jennifer 8. Lee, the writer, has a wonderful breezy style, but she does her homework in spades. Her journeys of discovery and research, the lengths to which she went, are remarkable. For people interested in food and in cross cultural experience, this is a fascinating and fun book; highly recommended.

Don’t read this book on an empty stomach or you’ll find yourself raiding the refrigerator! Author Jennifer 8 Lee uses her quest to find the origins of the fortune cookie as the impetuous to explore the history of Chinese food in the United States and the cultural encounter between East and West.

Interwoven into her detective work on the oddly mysterious fortune cookie are chapters on a range of topics -- from the first introduction of Chinese food to America in the 1880s to the desperate struggle of modern-day Chinese to immigrate to the States, only to end up working low-level jobs in Chinese restaurants. Her quest is also to understand her own cultural origins as an ABC (American-born Chinese). Luckily, this theme isn’t show more heavy-handed or overly self-conscious, while still being deeply felt. Indeed the entire book has a lovely light touch, serious without being ponderous, fun without being frivolous, deeply researched without seeming like a doctoral dissertation.

If you’re ever gotten Chinese take out, delivery, or munched egg rolls in a Chinese restaurant, this book will be full of fascinating information. And you’ll never think about your meal and the people who prepared and served it in the same way again. show less

On March 30, 2005, 110 people from all over the United States won the Powerball Lottery. Officials immediately began to fret over the possibility of fraud but soon a pattern emerged. It seemed the winning number had been inside of a Fortune Cookie. Jennifer Lee, an American-born Chinese, used the lottery story as an opportunity to delve into the mystery that is American Chinese food, one of her particular passions.
I'd estimate that in my household we eat Chinese take-out at least once a week. I love the stuff. So when this book appeared on my LT recommendations I went ahead and gave it a go. I am so glad that I did. This book is wonderfully entertaining and enlightening too. There were entire passages I read aloud to my husband because show more I found them so intriguing. This is not just a book about fortune cookies or the Powerball lottery. It's about the evolution of American Chinese food, about Chinese immigration and about the common denominator that food can be. I loved this book. But be warned - you will crave takeout the entire time you're reading it! show less

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of finishing Jennifer Lee’s enchanting book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles.

What a book! It takes the reader literally around the world to answer the perennial question of where fortune cookies truly come from. (I won’t spoil it.) But it’s not just about fortune cookies, oh no – it’s an examination of the history of Chinese restaurants (of which there are more in the United States than there are McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King combined); Powerball winners (one year, there were ~110 Powerball winners who got their lucky five-of-six numbers from fortune cookies); and more.

Well-written and engaging, the book pulled me in from the beginning. I was hooked – couldn’t wait to go back show more for more.

I will say that it was a little longer than I expected, coming in at 291 pages – but I flagged only briefly about 2/3 of the way in. There was enough new and different material to keep me engaged, and Lee did a good job at circling back to the initial premises of the book, notably the fortune-cookie origin dilemma and the Powerball numbers. show less