henry chang's year of the dog

The New York Times has a cool feature on author Henry Chang and his new novel Year of the Dog, the second book in his Detective Jack Yu series (the follow-up to 2006's Chinatown Beat) set in NYC's Chinatown: Murder on Mott Street. The book will be out in stores on November 1.

Chang has apparently been called "the Dashiell Hammett of Chinatown," which is a pretty cool comparison, though the author says his books are less conventional mysteries than studies in Chinese American culture. I'm a fan of both crime fiction and Asian American literature, so I'm looking forward to reading this either way.

I'd love to see more Asian American detective novels out there (Leonard Chang's Over the Shoulder and Naomi Hirahara's Summer of the Big Bachi come to mind) and a story set in New York's Chinatown sounds rife with possibilities. Certainly beats the hell out of Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto, right?

Entertainment Weekly's review of Year of the Dog describes it as "a richly atmospheric panorama of New York's immigrant demimonde" and "an Asian-flavored The Wire"—a huge compliment, in my book. For more information, visit the publishers website here.