Final book review on D.O.A.T

Kim Wong Keltner’s, The Dim Sum of All Things is a refreshing outlook on modern Asian American culture. Brilliantly crafted, Keltner reflects upon stereotypes and contemporary struggles with being Asian American through her character, Lindsey Owyang. Lindsey’s comic approach through all sorts of relationships, womanhood, and identity struggle lets readers bond with her and her San Franciscan surroundings. The book opens with Lindsey’s experiences with encountering “Hoarders of all things Asian.” Seemingly nothing out of the ordinary, Keltner illuminates the many guys who try to pick up on Lindsey just because of her race; with trying to talk to her in slow English as if she can’t understand, trying to show off how much they know about the Asian culture, and stereotypically questioning her if she was carrying groceries for a restaurant.. This first scene comforts readers into a familiar realm and emphasizes the life-long pondered question, “Why do white guys have this fetish for Asian women?” As she arrives at work as a quiet secretary for a tribune, Keltner presents her audience with Lindsey’s reactions when it came to her secret crush, Michael Cartier. It is especially a hilarious moment when Lindsey fantasizes about Michael and when she comes into interaction with him, for she melts into this child like state. This characteristic is present amongst all women and it is a clear connection Keltner makes in order to link all cultures together; revealing Keltner’s reflection on interracial dating. The novel could have continued without this relationship for I thought it was pathetic and it didn’t contribute any growth to the story, but the simple frustration felt with Michael does portray the struggle with gender and age. Not only does the author reflect on love relationships, but also a relationship with one’s culture. Readers see this when Michael comes over to her apartment whom she shares with her Chinese grandmother, Pau Pau. Desperate to cover up the “Asian smell” of her apartment and Pau Pau’s cultural trinkets, something as simple as Lindsey’s insecurity of how her apartment smells like is very symbolic. In an attempt to mask the Asian-ness, Keltner reflects on the identity crises within the Asian population trying to be American in order to fit in. This theme is apparent upon Lindsey’s outfits, friends, choice of food, and language which is all connected through Pau Pau. Pau Pau acting as this main link to her Chinese culture, readers watch Lindsey flourish from being embarrassed about the unfamiliar ways of the Chinese, to a content acceptance which begins to evolve into appreciation at the end of the novel. This journey was not easy. The climax occurred when Lindsey was actually being forced into visiting China itself. Her epiphany of first hand experiencing her culture shed light on the generational struggle with retaining one’s culture after living and being so contacted by another. Filled with heartwarming events, Kim Wong Keltner’s story is more than words on paper; it is a journey of finding ones place in society while still retaining one’s cultural makeup.