Eat a Bowl of Tea is a 1961 novel by Louis Chu. It was the first Chinese American novel set in Chinese America. Because of its portrayal of the "bachelor society" in New York's Chinatown after World War II, it has become an important work in Asian American studies. It has been cited as an influence by such authors as Frank Chin and Maxine Hong Kingston. It was made into a film of the same name by Wayne Wang in 1989.
The novel focuses on four primary characters: a young married couple, Ben Loy and Mei Oi, and their fathers, Wah Gay and Lee Gong. Chu uses their stories illuminate conflicts between Chinese ideals and traditions and contemporary American society.
Read more about Eat A Bowl Of Tea: Explanation On The Novel's Title, Plot Summary, Setting and Historical Context, Point of View, Structure, Syntax and Diction, Major Themes, Literary Significance and Reception
Famous quotes containing the words eat a, eat, bowl and/or tea:
“Tell me what you eat and I’ll tell you who you are.”
—Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755–1826)
“Again and again, I struggled though the storm. Once I fainted—and it wasn’t in the script. I was hauled to the studio on a sled, thawed out with hot tea, and then brought back to the blizzard, where the others were waiting. We filmed all day and all night, stopping only to eat standing near a bonfire. We never went inside.... The blizzard never slackened.”
—Lillian Gish (1896–1993)
“How can I go on, I cannot. Oh just let me flop down flat on the road like a big fat jelly out of bowl and never move again!”
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“There is not enough exercise in this way of life. I try to make up by active gymnastics before I dress when I get up, by walking rapidly in the lower hall and the greenhouse after each meal for perhaps five to ten minutes, and a good hand rubbing before going to bed. I eat moderately; drink one cup of coffee at breakfast and one cup of tea at lunch and no other stimulant. My health is now, and usually, excellent.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)