Everything I Learned I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis Chin

 This is a fascinating memoir about growing up in Detroit in a large, noisy family that owned a popular Chinese restaurant in the Cass Corridor. When Curtis was small, it was a close-knit community but by time he was in college, the neighborhood had become very dangerous and the family was living in the suburbs.

Aside from really making me crave some good almond chicken, the book made me realize how difficult it must have been for Curtis to be the only Asian kid in his suburban high school class and one of the few Asian kids at his university.  And how sad it was that Curtis was always having to decide whether something was unintentional racism (You're the first Asian we've ever had over) or mean, fully intentional racism. One instance that really made me feel for him was when his (white) fiction writing teacher in college accused him of stealing a story he had written--about his own childhood. (He decided that was just plain mean racism.) The main subplot of the books is about him realizing he's gay and trying to figure out how to deal with that. 

If you grew up in or around Detroit, his mentions of Ernie Harwell, the Fox Theater, and Harmony House will be a warm blast from the past.