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John Jung

John Jung

About

After a 40 year career as a Professor of Psychology, I pondered a question that I had avoided many times, namely, how did I, as a second-generation Chinese American fit in a black and white society in Macon, Georgia where we were the only Chinese in the entire city from the late '20s to early '50s when Jim Crow segregation was yet to be challenged. My attempt to understand how my ethnic identity emerged to my memoir, Southern Fried Rice: Life in A Chinese Laundry in the Deep South. I soon realized from responses of readers and audiences when I gave book talks/signings all over the U. S. that here was an important story to preserve and share. I met other Chinese that also grew up in cultural isolation where they were the only Chinese in their communities and/or they also grew up helping in their parents' laundry, restaurant, or grocery store. 


I was inspired to write three additional books, all exploring how Chinese immigrants from the late 1800s until beyond the middle of the past century managed to overcome the hostile societal prejudices against Chinese and other "Orientals" and succeed running family businesses such as laundries, grocery stores, and restaurants.

Writing and speaking about these 4 books led to many important but unanticipated discoveries and contacts with other Chinese Americans. In my fifth book, A Chinese American Odyssey: How a Retired Psychologist Makes a Hit as a Historian, I describe these experiences and discuss some important things I learned about writing, researching, publishing, and publicizing my books.

Murdo

Murdo

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<p>When Jessica Bryant pesters her wealthy parents to allow her to have a dog as a pet, the answer is a resounding &quot;No&quot;; but they soon come to regret their decision when thier home is broken into one evening whilst they are out and their daughter kidnapped and held for ransom. The kidnappers, in the form of four seedy and incompetent characters wearing Disneyland-type masks, take her hostage and keep her incarcerated in a place from which there appears to be no escape. However, they reckon without the resourcefulness of our heroine, and the courage of a wonderful stray dog who comes to her aid and whom she names 'Murdo'. And so begins an exciting and humurous accounting of the couples' adventures together as they consistently foil and outwit the abductors whilst on the run together.<br /> This is a lovely story of the friendship between a girl and a dog, bringing out themes of responsibility, camaraderie, redemption, salvation and self-sacrifice. It includes some wonderful dialogue sequences as Jessica teaches her new four-legged friend how to communicate with her, with additional delightful conversations between the animals when a rabbit and a sparrow join forces with them in an effort to outwit the kidnappers and restore Jessica safely back to her parents' home. </p>

Story Behind The Book

The average American knows very little about the Chinese restaurant. The average Chinese knows equally little, perhaps just a little more. Louis Chu, 1939, p. I Chinese restaurants today are one of the most popular cuisines in the U. S. and many other countries, but this was not the case until after the end of World War II. The story of how Chinese immigrants started family-run restaurants and made them successful is a fascinating one especially since most of them were started by Chinese immigrants with little or no cooking or restaurant expertise in the rural villages they came from.

Media Links

Book Review in CHINA INSIGHT by Raymond Lum

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Reviews

<p><span style="font-family:'Lucida Grande', Arial, Geneva, sans-serif;font-size:small;line-height:normal;"><strong>Praise for &quot;Sweet and Sour: Life in Chinese Family Restaurants&quot;</strong><br /><br /> John Jung has taken us down another memory lane and this time we brought along our appetite. &quot;Sweet &amp; Sour&quot; evoked hundreds of memories of Chinatowns, favorite soul food dishes, haunts of opulent and garish banquet halls and the more frequented and beloved hole-in-the walls. These are the collective memories shared by families and friends. Sweet &amp; Sour is also an anthropological study. Chinese cooks across these United States and Canada created an everlasting love for Chinese food enjoyed by all cultures. Find a “chop suey” house and generations upon generations will cite their favorites, be it chow<span>mein, fried rice, beef brisket stew or even chicken feet. Without a doubt this is by far Jung’s best work and with the greatest universal appeal.<br /><strong>Sylvia Sun Minnick, &quot;Samfow: The San Joaquin Chinese Legacy&quot;</strong><br /><br /> John Jung again demonstrates a marvelous ability to blend archival data with fascinating first-person accounts to bring to life the family-operated Chinese eateries that are quickly disappearing from today’s society. Following solid historical groundwork, Jung uses narratives of 10 individuals who grew up in such places to take readers inside old-time chop suey houses. Their stories provide a candid telling of the personal, familial, and cultural significance of these familiar cafes. As with his earlier books on Chinese family-owned laundries and grocery stores, the author sheds a fresh and ample light on a subject even more familiar. And once again he does it so well from the inside out.<br /><strong>Mel Brown, &quot;Chinese Heart of Texas: The San Antonio Community 1875-1975.&quot;</strong><br /><br /> &quot;Sweet And Sour&quot; is a powerful historical exploration of an American institution: the family-owned Chinese restaurant. John Jung succeeds in bringing to life the exterior side of such Chinese eateries across the nation--their appearance, their location, and of course, their hybrid, Americanized menu offerings. In addition, by means of a variety of interviews and primary sources, he focuses attention as well on their little-known private side, the daily routines and harsh working conditions that made them run. Jung underlines the contributions of all family members, including children, that were necessary for success.<br /><strong>Greg Robinson, Prof. of History, University of Quebec, Montreal. &quot;A Tragedy of Democracy: Japanese Confinement in North America&quot;</strong><br /><br /> &quot;Sweet and Sour: Life in Chinese Family Restaurants&quot; tackles the long-neglected topic of Chinese food with a focus on Chinese restaurants. This well-researched, thoughtfully conceptualized monograph brings academic rigor and adds historical depth, as well as the perspectives of an insightful scholar and a second-generation Chinese American, to our understanding of the development of Chinese food in the realm of public consumption in the United States and Canada. It promises to elevate that understanding to a higher level... Through this book, I hope, consumers at the ubiquitous Chinese restaurants can also gain a deeper appreciation of historical forces and human experiences that have shaped the food they now enjoy.<br /><strong>Yong Chen,Professor of History, University of California, Irvine. &quot;San Francisco Chinese 1850-1943:A Trans-Pacific Community.&quot; </strong><br /><br /> &quot;Sweet and Sour&quot; covers many important aspects of the Chinese restaurant business and it is a great contribution to the study of Chinese food in America. This area really deserves more attention than it has had.<br /><strong>Haiming Liu, Professor of Ethnic and Women's Studies, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. &quot;The Transnational History of a Chinese Family. Immigrant Letters, Family Business, and Reverse Migration,&quot; 2006. </strong></span></span></p>