A couple months ago, I kept hearing about a book called The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8 Lee, about the history and influence of Chinese food in America. It sounded like unique concept for a book, and so when we ordered a copy for our library, I checked it out as soon as it arrived. It took me several weeks to read it all the way through, since it would only take a chapter or two or sometimes just a few pages before I would have my fill – like Chinese food, a small amount quickly filled me up.

Lee’s narrative jumps from trying to scout out the origins of the fortune cookie, to sharing the dangers of life as a Chinese food deliveryman in New York City, the nomadic nature of Chinese restaurant workers, to tracking down the original General Tso, just to name a few. In fact, it covers so much ground in such a disjointed fashion, that it was hard to keep my attention for very long, and I sometimes found it difficult to stay interested.

Still, for the sometimes erratic, rambling structure of the book, I did learn some things – for instance, the little packets of brown sauce we get free with Chinese takeout isn’t really soy sauce, fortune cookies are actually Japanese in origin, and the greatest Chinese restaurant in the world is actually in Canada. I just wish the book had a better editor.

Edit: For those who don’t plan to read this book and want to know, the stuff in the little brown packets is mainly salt, coloring and water with some other stuff, but no soy!