CNN reports that Charles Wu has won the National Book Award for Fiction for his latest novel Interior Chinatown.
Released in January this year, Interior Chinatown tells the story of an Asian American actor battling with ‘Asian delivery guy’ and ‘kung fu guy’ stereotypes.
In the virtually-streamed ceremony for the award, the 2020 judging committee described Yu’s novel as a “wonderfully inventive work.”
“By turns hilarious and flat-out heartbreaking, Charles Yu’s ‘Interior Chinatown’ is a bright, bold, gut punch of a novel,” the judges said.
Accepting the award, Yu was caught off-guard but certainly pleased.
“I can’t feel anything in my body right now. I prepared nothing, which tells you about how realistic I thought this was,” he said, quipping that it all felt like a simulation.
“I will probably just stop talking now,” he added. “I’m going to go melt into a puddle right now.”
The Asian American writer is also known for penning episodes of HBO’s Westworld, FX’s Legion and AMC’s Lodge 49.
Last month it was revealed that Interior Chinatown is being turned into a Hulu TV series.
