Gena Asher | March 29, 2009
 |
| Courtesy photo (Nina Subin) |
| New York Times reporter and book author Jennifer 8. Lee will talk at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Ernie Pyle Auditorium. |
The School of Journalism and the Asian Culture Center are co-sponsoring her lecture.
Lee’s book examines the evolution of Chinese cuisine in America, starting with the fact that there are more Chinese restaurants in the U.S. than McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC combined, according to the book’s Web site.
This led Lee, 33, to travel the world to find the origins of Chinese food. She found that no one in General Tso’s Chinese hometown had ever heard of the popular dish and that fortune cookies originated in Japan. The book also is part memoir, sharing her own story as a child of immigrants.
At the Times, she has written about poverty, the environment, crime, politics and technology. But she also has written about off-beat topics, such as what straight men talk about when they can’t talk about sports (the Man Date) or trends in baby names.
As for her own name, the figure 8 is her legal middle name. Her parents did not give her a middle name, so she chose “8” because it is connotes “prosperity” in Chinese, according to her bio at her publisher’s Web site.
Questions? Comments? Email the Web editor.
