Not Your China Doll The Wild And Shimmering Life Of Anna May Wong 1st Edition Katie Gee Salisbury by Katie Gee Salisbury 9780593183991, 0593183991 instant download after payment.

Set against the glittering backdrop of Los Angeles during the gin-soaked Jazz Age & the rise of Hollywood, this debut book celebrates Anna May Wong, the first Asian American movie star, to bring an unsung heroine to light & reclaim her place in cinema history. 

Before Constance Wu, Sandra Oh, Awkwafina, or Lucy Liu, there was Anna May Wong. In her time, she was a legendary beauty, witty conversationalist, & fashion icon. Plucked from her family’s laundry business in Los Angeles, Anna May Wong rose to stardom in Douglas Fairbanks’s blockbuster The Thief of Bagdad. Fans & the press clamored to see more of this unlikely actress, but when Hollywood repeatedly cast her in stereotypical roles, she headed abroad in protest. 

Anna May starred in acclaimed films in Berlin, Paris, & London. She dazzled royalty & heads of state across several nations, leaving trails of suitors in her wake. She returned to challenge Hollywood at its own game by speaking out about the industry’s blatant racism. She used her new stature to move away from her typecasting as the China doll or dragon lady, & worked to reshape Asian American representation in film. Filled with stories of capricious directors & admiring costars, glamorous parties & far-flung love affairs, Not Your China Doll showcases the vibrant, radical life of a groundbreaking artist.

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Katie Gee Salisbury has spoken & written about Anna May Wong on MSNBC, in the New York Times & in Vanity Fair. She also writes the newsletter Half-Caste Woman. She was a 2021 Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship finalist & gave the TED Talk “As American as Chop Suey.” A fifth-generation Chinese American from Southern California, she now lives in Brooklyn. This is her first book.