Curtis Chin, the award-winning author and filmmaker whose memoir paints a vivid portrait of coming of age in 1980s Detroit, is bringing his book tour to the area this week.
Chin’s debut memoir Everything I learned, I learned in a Chinese Restaurant chronicles his childhood growing up in and around Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine, his family’s beloved restaurant in Detroit’s Cass Corridor. The book explores themes of identity, community, and resilience as Chin navigates his youth as a gay, American-born Chinese boy during a time of economic decline, racial tension, and the AIDS epidemic.
The memoir has garnered widespread acclaim and was recommended by Time, the San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, and Eater.
Structured around the menu at Chung’s and steeped in personal anecdotes, Chin’s story doubles as a tribute to a bygone era of Detroit and the communities that shaped him.
Now based in Los Angeles, Chin returns to Michigan this week for a series of book talks in Detroit, Novi, Ann Arbor, Holland, and East Lansing. Stops on the tour include:
Monday, April 7 at 7 p.m. – East Lansing Public Library
Tuesday, April 8 at 3:30 p.m. – Hope College’s Jack H. Miller Center in Holland
Wednesday, April 9 at 4 p.m. – Wayne State University Student Center Ballroom in Detroit
Thursday, April 10 at 11:45 a.m. – Fox Run Belmont Clubhouse in Novi (hosted by the Novi Public Library)
Thursday, April 10 at 6 p.m. – University of Michigan, CCCB 0420 in Ann Arbor
Chin co-founded the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York City and has written for outlets including CNN, Bon Appétit, and the Detroit Free Press. His films have screened globally, and his essay for Bon Appétit was included in Best Food Writing in American 2023.
Though his family lived in Troy, Chin considers Detroit his true home, a place where he spent most of his waking hours at the restaurant, attending school, and immersing himself in the city’s culture. In interviews, he has spoken candidly about grappling with what it means to be “from” Detroit, especially as the city’s identity continues to shift.
“Hopefully, it’s done in a loving way so that people can see that, yes, we had some terrible times in Detroit, but it was still a loving, great city to grow up in,” Chin told Metro Times in 2023.
More information on Chin and his book tour can be found at curtisfromdetroit.com.
