Image source: amazon.com
Blog is back, still not exactly right, but at least, the layout isn’t the default.
I went to hear Ed Lin read his new novel “This is a Bust” at the Asia Society. I got stuck at work and came a little late, in the middle of the introduction, which means I missed the photo op. The novel is about a Chinese American cop who works a beat in Chinatown in the 70s. The book is pure pulp genre crime fiction.
I bought a copy, but wished there was an audio book read by Lin. He did a good job reading, giving different voices to the various characters, which was unusual and fun. When I was getting my book signed I thought about telling him, he sounded like the voice actors on Cowboy Bebop, but chickened out. I’m not a big genre reader, but the setting is of interesting to me, because I’ve been visiting Chinatown for a long time, even if as an outsider.
The Q&A was so-so, as they usually are. But I did learn that he likes pulp fiction and punk rock. Great to hear him mention Hüsker Dü and the Dead Kennedys. But the highlight of the Q&A was when he recognized a MySpace friend in the audience, whom he had presumably never met in person before last night, and said, “oh are you [insert some name that starts with D]?”
Well, thank you for the Cowboy Bebop reference, but I much prefer Samurai Champloo or Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Throw Sealab 2021 in there, as well!
Thank you so much for coming out that night!
-Ed