Based on a Book

Here's how critic Roger Ebert described the unique and lasting value of George Lucas's 1973 box-office hit, American Graffiti: "[It's] not only a great movie but a brilliant work of historical fiction; no sociological treatise could duplicate the movie's ... Read More

Here's how critic Roger Ebert described the unique and lasting value of George Lucas's 1973 box-office hit, American Graffiti: "[It's] not only a great movie but a brilliant work of historical fiction; no sociological treatise could duplicate the movie's success in remembering exactly how it was to be alive at that cultural instant." The time to which Ebert and the film refers is the summer of 1962, and American Graffiti captures the look, feel, and sound of that era by chronicling one memorable night in the lives of several young Californians on the cusp of adulthood. (In essence, Lucas was making a semiautobiographical tribute to his own days as a hot-rod cruiser, and the film's phenomenal success paved the way for Star Wars.) The action is propelled by the music of Wolfman Jack's rock & roll radio show--a soundtrack of pop hits that would become as popular as the film itself. As Lucas develops several character subplots, American Graffiti becomes a flawless time capsule of meticulously re-created memory, as authentic as a documentary and vividly realized through innovative use of cinematography and sound. The once-in-a-lifetime ensemble cast members inhabit their roles so fully that they don't seem like actors at all, comprising a who's who of performers--some of whom went on to stellar careers--including Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, and Paul Le Mat. A true American classic, the film ranks No. 77 on the American Film Institute's list of all-time greatest American movies. --Jeff Shannon

American Knees is about relationships, sex, work, and family obligations. In other words, it's about life. "American Knees (a takeoff on the old schoolyard song, 'Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees. . .') is the story of how Raymond Ding, a politically corre... Read More

American Knees is about relationships, sex, work, and family obligations. In other words, it's about life.

"American Knees (a takeoff on the old schoolyard song, 'Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees. . .') is the story of how Raymond Ding, a politically correct man with a politically incorrect sense of humor, falls into, and out of, love with newspaper photographer Aurora Crane. As Raymond and Aurora's story unfolds, Wong crafts some wonderfully telling and funny scenes of social relations in multicultural America."--Seattle Weekly

"Wong overturns the racial stereotypes perpetrated against Asians in this country, and he does so with humor to spare. . . . No one has more eloquently or joyfully asserted our belonging."--David Wong Louie, Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Shawn Wong adds a funny, sexy chapter to Asian American literature. . . . A multi-cultural comedy that relentlessly lampoons the incidents and incidentals of modern Asian American life."--Julie Shiroishi, San Francisco Bay Guardian

"With American Knees, Wong constructs a fast-paced world of botched romances, sexual and racial stereotypes, and unfulfilled longing."--A. Magazine

"I cracked up reading Shawn Wong's witty, tender, wise, and sexy new novel. His lovable but ambivalent protagonist collides memorably with a cast of female characters who are a welcome change from the shrinking violets and silent martyrs we've come to expect from `ethnic' literature. American Knees is contemporary to the bone - a highly entertaining, deftly written, provocative and moving work of fiction."--Jessica Hagedorn, author of Dogeaters