Home › Books › Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong's Rendezvou…
Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong's Rendezvous with American History
by
70/99
Critics' Rating Index
20/99
Readers' Rating Index
n/a
Scholars' Citation Index
89/99
Volume of Reviews
40/99
Volume of Reader Ratings
Sign in to add to your shelf, rate, or review this book.
About This Book
One of the Atlantic 's "Books to Get Lost in This Summer" Best Books of August 2023: InsideHook, WNET AllArts A trenchant reclamation of the Chinese American movie star, whose battles against cinematic exploitation and endemic racism are set against the currents of twentieth-century history. Born into the steam and starch of a Chinese laundry, Anna May Wong (1905–1961) emerged from turn-of-the-century Los Angeles to become Old Hollywood's most famous Chinese American actress, a screen siren who captivated global audiences and signed her publicity photos―with a touch of defiance―"Orientally yours." Now, more than a century after her birth, Yunte Huang narrates Wong's tragic life story, retracing her journey from Chinatown to silent-era Hollywood, and from Weimar Berlin to decadent, prewar Shanghai, and capturing American television in its infancy. As Huang shows, Wong's rendezvous with history features a remarkable parade of characters, including a smitten Walter Benjamin and (an equally smitten) Marlene Dietrich. Challenging the parodically racist perceptions of Wong as a "Dragon Lady," "Madame Butterfly," or "China Doll," Huang's biography becomes a truly resonant work of history that reflects the raging anti-Chinese xenophobia, unabashed sexism, and ageism toward women that defined both Hollywood and America in Wong's all-too-brief fifty-six years on earth. 40 black-and-white images
Reviews
"Huang is a wry and generous storyteller; the Anna May he evokes stepped out from the limited roles she was relegated to and turned to writing as a way of showcasing her curiosity and wit."
"An intimate Hollywood profile perfect for students of film and pop culture."
"It's a fascinating—and long overdue—close-up of a Hollywood trailblazer."
"Huang seems so concerned with meticulously building the world around Wong that his picture of Wong herself starts to dim."
"It is an outstanding work, filled with insights and stories, and written with authority."
"A thorough, multilayered history of the too brief yet impactful life of a pioneering Chinese American woman artist facing racism and sexism in tumultuous times."
"His book is less an intimate, psychological biography than a revealing look at Wong's experience within the history of the era and its flow of cultural biases."
"Huang's true subject, to which he always returns: the strange ambivalence that marks any racialized performer's ascent to fame."
"But Daughter of the Dragon offers a lively tour through Wong's world and filmography, and the film stills and portraits included throughout are a particular pleasure"
Preview
Reader Reviews
0 reviewsSign in to write a review.
No reader reviews yet. Be the first!