Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History
W. W. Norton & Company, 2010. First edition. Hardcover. Firts edition/printing. Fine in fine dust jacket. Hardcover. 354 pp. with index, bibliography. Illustrations. Absorbing history of the legendary real-life Cantonese detective (real name Chang Apana) whose reputation would inspire a series of fiction and movie depictions that long defines America's distorted perceptions of Asians and Asian Americans. Apana (1871-1933) was born in Hawaii; his family returned to China when he was three but returned when he was ten. In 1898 he joined the Honolulu Police Department and was assigned to patrol the Chinatown section. By 1916 he was a detective and his fluency in several languages made him a valued officer in investigation the opium trade and illegal gambling. Author Earl Derr Biggers visited Hawaii in 1919 and continued to read Hawaiian newspapers in the New York Public Library once he returned to New York. In 1924 he read about Apana and was inspired to create the Charlie Chan detective character, who he inserted about a quarter of mthe way through his mystery novel "House without A Key". Fine / fine. Item #E25021
ISBN: 9780393069624
Price: $16.95