PowerHouse Arena is hosting a celebration for the paperback release of the Fortune Cookie Chronicles by author Jennifer 8. Lee and a talk with food writer Sarah Murray about “adventures in the world of Chinese food.” There will be a DJ, beer, Chinatown Ice Cream Factory goodies and fortune cookies prizes.
From powerHouse Arena:
Jennifer 8. Lee’s remarkable journey into the secrets world of Chinese restaurants reveals a cultural phenomenon with far greater influence and intrigue than we ever realized.
In her quest to understand Chinese food and the people who make it, Chinese-American Jennifer 8. Lee traveled the world and almost every state in the country. Her journey provided fascinating insights into the surprising origins of the fortune cookie; the debate over the true inventor of chop suey: and what can only be described as The Great Kosher Duck Scandal, a window into the special relationship between Jews and Chinese food. The story of Chinese food is a tale of immigration, assimilation, and adaptation. For anyone who has ever found wisdom within a fortune cookie, Jennifer 8. Lee’s chronicles will offer revelations, with pleasure and wonder.
About the author:
Jennifer 8. Lee, the daughter of Chinese immigrants and a fluent speaker of Mandarin Chinese herself, grew up eating her mother’s authentic Chinese food in her family’s New York City kitchen before graduating from Harvard in 1999 with a degree in applied mathematics and economics, and studying at Beijing University. At the age of twenty-four, she was hired by the New York Times, where she is a metro reporter, and has written a variety of stories on culture, poverty, and technology. Her middle name “8” connotes prosperity in Chinese. She lives in Harlem. You can visit her website at www.fortunecookiechronicles.com
Wednesday, March 11, 2009, 7–9PM
The powerHouse Arena, 37 Main Street, Brooklyn
For more information: (718) 666-3049
RSVP: rsvp@powerhousearena.com
