The author has put together the most unique analysis available of America's most beloved detective, who was an instant hit with readers worldwide and who reached even greater heights on the silver screen for nearly two decades.  Charlie Chan reads as a wondrous, meandering journey that we make along with Huang as he lets us become a part of his search for the detective.  To be sure, the tale is dreamlike at times as we are thrust back and forth in time and space while we are provided clues to the full picture of Charlie Chan as we meet such luminaries as Chang Apana and Earl Derr Biggers, as well as the actors who portrayed Chan in films. 

Hawaiian history also plays out largely in Dr. Huang's study.  On this I will briefly state that, while it was evidently a very noble and caring effort on his part, a number of errors regarding Hawaii's past will be encountered by readers.  It would seem to this reader that, given the vastness of his endeavor, Yunte Huang proved himself to be human, perhaps relying on information (His work is copiously footnoted!) that was itself in error.  However, I feel that the overall points will not be lost on the casual reader.

Yunte Huang's approach to the character is refreshingly open and he is unapologetic in a way that only someone such as he, born and raised in China - Charlie Chan's homeland, can be in our increasingly politically correct culture.  Pulling no punches, Huang uses terms that are, today, unacceptable, such as "Chinaman," often referring to himself as such, to such a degree as to effectively defuse the term of its explosive nature.  The reader is reminded by the author about how American culture changed during the great waves of immigration which, as societal pressures grew as a result, unfortunate events, both legislative and societal, resulted.  As literature and popular media of the time often vilified Chinese, the arrival of Charlie Chan through the creative efforts of Earl Derr Biggers was a complete reversal of that sad norm.

Yunte Huang addresses the controversy that originated several decades ago about Charlie Chan supposedly being a negative stereotype.  Rather than preaching to readers on this aspect of Chan, Huang allows us, as participants on his tour of discovery, to answer the question for ourselves.  As a component of balance, included is Keye Luke's comment regarding the accusation that Charlie Chan demeans the Chinese race: "Demeans!  My God!  You've got a Chinese hero!"  

In the end, Dr. Huang completes our journey where it began, with Detective Chang Apana.  Both Chang Apana and his brother in literature, Charlie Chan, are forever linked historically and culturally.  Both are a result of the dynamic, bubbling stew that was and remains American culture.

- Rush Glick

Now available in paperback!