Book Club: Asian Heritage Month - New Westminster

We invite you to join us for one of two upcoming in-person Book Club events to discuss the selected title Chop Suey Nation by Ann Hui. Thank you to those who helped us to choose the book by taking our recent poll! Remember, those who have not read or completed the reading material are always welcome to attend and participate in the discussion!  >> See more Asian Hertiage month resources

​“In this insightful culinary history and memoir, Globe & Mail journalist Hui tells the stories of “chop suey” restaurants and the immigrant families behind many of them. Born in British Columbia, Canada, to Chinese parents, Hui first encountered the cuisine (known for “crispy spring rolls, kung pao chicken and wonton soup”) as a school meal so different from her mom’s home cooking that she “barely recognized anything on the plate.” Challenging the popular notion that “fake” Chinese is “garish and lacking in refinement,” Hui sets off on a cross-country road trip asking purveyors in near-identical small-town restaurants: “How did you wind up here?” She reveals the origin stories of ubiquitous “made-in-North-America” dishes such as ginger beef, and, of course, chop suey or “dsop sooy”—literally “Assorted scraps. Bits and pieces. This and that.” When Hui learns her own parents started their lives in Canada running such a restaurant, she embarks on a mission to learn about their past. What she discovers—in kitchens across Canada and in her own home—is a pattern of “creativity, perseverance and resourcefulness” that proves chop suey may be “the most Chinese of all.” This thoughtful look at an often dismissed cuisine will enthrall foodies and history buffs alike.” - Publishers Weekly

Asian Heritage Month Book Club discussions will take place at each campus on Wednesday, May 17. Light refreshments will be served. Participants at each of our book club discussions will be entered in a lottery to win a copy of our poll “runners’ up” (We Were Dreamers by Simi Liu and How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa) at the end of each event.
 

The Book Club discussions will be facilitated by Katharine Shipley, Associate Director of Learning Resources at Coquitlam, and Trish Rosseel, Director of Learning Resources, at New Westminster.

Douglas College currently has five copies of Chop Suey Nation and the book is also available in multiple formats (e-book, audio book, or print) from most local or public libraries including New Westminster Public Library, Coquitlam Public Library, Burnaby Public Library, Vancouver Public Library, Fraser Valley Regional Library, and Surrey Libraries. If you wish to purchase a copy to keep, check out the Douglas College Bookstore, which also stocks this title!

Please email Lisa Sim at siml@douglascollege.ca if you have any questions.