Finding Mr. Wong by Susan Crean (English) Paperback Book

Description: Finding Mr. Wong by Susan Crean The story of a Chinese Head Tax payer hired by the authors grandfather in 1928 as a cook and housekeeper. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description Finding Mr. Wong, true to its title, chronicles the authors search for Wong Dong Wong as she attempted to piece together his life beyond what she knew of him as a cook and housekeeper and her experience growing up in Mr. Wongs kitchen. Creans search for Mr. Wong took her to Chinatown in Vancouver and Toronto, and twice to Guangdong, China, where she located Wongs home village, found descendants of his fathers brother, and the story of his beginnings. (Orphaned within a few months of his birth, and brought to Canada by his uncle, Wong YeeWoen.) In writing his life Crean has combined fiction with historical recreations, and memoir. The section on the 1919 Chinatown riot in Toronto, for instance, was suggested by author Paul Yee. The saga of night-life in Chinatown came from historian Elise Cheniers work on lesbian history and culture. One sub-theme of the book concerns the relationship between children and servants (typically nannies) which Crean explores in literature and film. She looked particularly at instances when the alliance crosses race as well as class, and she relates her own experience grappling with racism as a small child. A second sub-theme is memory and its role in the writing and researching of a book such as this. Author Biography Susan Crean was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, and is of Scots-Irish descent. Her articles and essays have appeared in magazines and newspapers across Canada, and she is the author of seven books, the first, Whos Afraid of Canadian Culture, appearing in 1976. Her most recent book, The Laughing One: A Journey to Emily Carr, was nominated for a Governor Generals award and won a B.C. Book Prize in 2001. Crean currently lives in Toronto. Review "[An] elegantly written and fiercely felt account of a love that crossed the boundaries of race and class." —The Vancouver Sun~||~"[Crean] has shone a light on a little-known part of the story of the Chinese in Canada, and she has done so with love."—Judy Fong Bates, Literary Review of Canada~||~"Part homage, part mystery, part memoir, Finding Mr. Wong is a loving look at a life that is no less important a part of our Canadian story for its previously having been rendered invisible."—Canadas History~||~"[Crean] has shone a light on a little-known part of the story of the Chinese in Canada, and she has done so with love."—Judy Fong Bates, Literary Review of Canada Long Description Finding Mr. Wong, true to its title, chronicles the authors search for Wong Dong Wong as she attempted to piece together his life beyond what she knew of him as a cook and housekeeper and her experience growing up in Mr. Wongs kitchen. Creans search for Mr. Wong took her to Chinatown in Vancouver and Toronto, and twice to Guangdong, China, where she located Wongs home village, found descendants of his fathers brother, and the story of his beginnings. (Orphaned within a few months of his birth, and brought to Canada by his uncle, Wong YeeWoen.) In writing his life Crean has combined fiction with historical recreations, and memoir. The section on the 1919 Chinatown riot in Toronto, for instance, was suggested by author Paul Yee. The saga of night-life in Chinatown came from historian Elise Cheniers work on lesbian history and culture. One sub-theme of the book concerns the relationship between children and servants (typically nannies) which Crean explores in literature and film. She looked particularly at instances when the alliance crosses race as well as class, and she relates her own experience grappling with racism as a small child. A second sub-theme is memory and its role in the writing and researching of a book such as this. Review Quote "The memory portrait of a beloved servant is always a project fraught with dangers of sentimentality and mystification. Too often, the white author turns the tale of the racialized servants into hagiography or Hallmark sentiment, blurring entirely the brutal realities of race and class that undergird and hedge in such relationships. Crean is exquisitely aware of these narrative dangers, and she is remarkably successful both in delineating them and avoiding them in this exemplary memoir." -Vancouver Sun Description for Sales People (1) A memoir of an Irish Canadian familys Chinese cook, written by the Bosss granddaughter. Certainly when the author was doing research in China, the Bureau of Overseas Chinese and Foreign Affairs in Taishan* this found this fact to be quite noteworthy. *Taishan was the home county in Guangdong province where the majority of Chinese emigrants left and never returned. (2) The search for the roots of a Chinese orphan who left Taishan 100 years ago leaving no family behind would seem to be a very long shot. Who would put money such an expedition? The author had zero expectation of finding anything, but knew she would learn something by going. In fact, quite unexpectedly, she did indeed find Mr. Wong. Moreover, she found proof of his birth date, which the federal government had always disputed. And though the descendants in Shui Doi are not related by blood, the author did in fact find a distant relative who shares a visual resemblance with Mr. Wong. The author was accompanied on her research journey to Taishan in 2014 by Howe Chan, whose mother came from the same region and who became the authors main informant. He lives in Richmond, British Columbia. Details ISBN1772011940 Author Susan Crean Publisher Talon Books,Canada Year 2018 ISBN-10 1772011940 ISBN-13 9781772011944 Format Paperback Imprint Talon Books,Canada Place of Publication Vancouver Country of Publication Canada DEWEY B Language English Pages 272 Illustrations B&W family photos, map, family tree of Wongs immediate family UK Release Date 2018-08-02 Audience General AU Release Date 2018-08-13 Publication Date 2018-09-13 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:118990336;

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