Back in the day, Jimmy Wang Yu was one of my favorite punching bags, and I’m glad I was never a punching bag for him. Because I hear he was actually pretty tough.
Read
I, The Jury
When people imitate hardboiled fiction, they’re imitating Mickey Spillane. Every sentence is boiling over with hate and disgust. Every thought is of violence.
Listen
How Nat Became King: Hittin’ the Ramp with the King Cole Trio
Before he was “King,” he was Nathaniel Adams Coles. Alabama born, Chicago raised, LA forged. In the 1930, he put together a rowdy jazz trio that was a lot different than the Nat King Cole most people know.
On Diabolique
Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio
On Diabolique: My three-part article, “Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio,” examines A Chinese Ghost Story, the original story by Pu Songling, and the Shaw Brothers’ Enchanting Shadow.
On The Cultural Gutter
He Saw the Sea
Langston Hughes’ autobiography, The Big Sea, deserves to be counted among the great works of travel literature. Also, there is Jocko the monkey.
