Non-Fiction Book Reviews
Book Review: The Fortune Cookie Chronicles
By Sandy Amazeen Mar 3, 2008, 21:49 GMT
On March 30, 2005 a phenomenal number of people from across the country won big on the Powerball drawing, triggering alarm bells throughout the lottery system. Amidst fears of fraud came the discovery that the majority of those winners got their numbers from fortune cookies. Thus begins Lee’s odyssey into the background and popularity of Chinese food, the origins of menu standbys like chop suey and the ubiquitous fortune cookie. An American born Chinese, Lee brings a wealth of cultural angles, memories of her mother preparing authentic Chinese food that had little in common with the corner take-outs, and the amusing, often contentious history of the fortune cookie. Join Lee in this delightful romp across the globe and discover first spammer, the origins of the fortune cookie and the proverbs tucked inside as well as what an elderly priest of the Hyotanyama Inari shrine outside of Osaka had to say about fortunes. A number of references are made to the internment camps of World War II and while demonstrating their often devastating impact on the Japanese, are refreshingly non judgmental. Lee serves up equal portions of travelogue, history and culture with flare and dry wit in a delightful mix worth savoring.
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