Rating: 
Summary: I hurt myself laughing --
Review: -- I was reading this on the bus and forgot my stop was coming up and tripped over someone's big feet getting to the door. It's funny! It's funnier than all those so-called humor novels out now. Wong-Keltner has a natural style that can be tart and funny, then sweet and sad when she's writing about family. Although I have little in common with her smart and sassy heroine -- my grandmother used Vicks Vapo-Rub instead of Tiger Balm -- it doesn't matter. Her themes of love, all kinds, are universal. And it's laugh-out-loud funny.
A warning: Don't read it on the bus!
Rating: 
Summary: I don't usually write reviews.....
Review: .......but this book was so insipid that I had to warn other readers. I read the whole thing and I'd really like those 3 hours of my life back. It aspires to be "chick-lit" on the level of the Sophie Kinsella books, or "Something Borrowed" by Emily Giffin, but it has more in common with the dreaded "Red Dress Ink" books which I think should be avoided at all costs. The narrator is unlikable and inconsistent and the plot meanders to a maddening degree. I think she has some talent that could be developed further but this book is not a promising debut.
Rating: 
Summary: Good in some parts, not so good in others.
Review: A nice, light, fluffy read, but as previous reviewers have mentioned, there are several issues with the novel. Lindsey Owyang, the protagonist, can be quite annoying and amazingly hypocritical. While this in itself is not an issue, it made it extremely difficult to like and sympathize with the character, which I felt Keltner was trying to get the reader to do (also felt like she was inserting pieces of her own life into the story, which is fine with me, but some people might not like it). Also, as a young, female, Chinese-Canadian, while I can't deny that there are certain issues you have to face with growing up in dual cultures, I know no one who is as paranoid and obsessively conscious of her Asian heritage as Lindsey is. Not only does it send the wrong message, but having to read something where every second line is concerned with ethnicity (be it hers or someone elses) becomes incredibly irritating really, really fast.Keltner is an observant, witty author, and while there were times when she had me laughing out loud, there were other times when I found her comments just plain offensive. Some reviewers have suggested that the reason some people didn't enjoy the book was because they didn't understand all the inside jokes of Chinese culture; this reviewer -did- get all the jokes, but unfortunately didn't find all of them entertaining. It's worth a read for the cultural tidbits and keen observations, and some descriptions will really resonate if you're Chinese, but overall the enjoyment in some parts is cancelled out by the irritation in others.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining despite some bumps along the way
Review: After finishing the book and reading the reviews posted here, I must say that some reviewers have been very harsh on Wong Keltner. The book is very entertaining to say the least. I had some laugh out loud moments along the way, but like all books, it is not without its faults. The negative aspects lies in the 'choppiness' of the first three quarters of the book when the chapters just jump from one topic to the next. By the last quarter, there is a 'coming together' of the novel and then, it abruptly ends. As a Chinese married to an American (and also, a writer and editor) I can say that as a work of fiction, it is not bad. What are the reviewers (who blamed Wong Keltner for being a 'sell-out') trying to say? That a work of fiction is wrong? This is not an auto-biography, at least, it's not published as one. If it was, then one can very well critique it as being a 'sell-out'. Fiction is an author's imagination put into words. Therefore, regardless of how one feels towards the issues presented, it's just a work of fiction, a story for the purpose of entertaining. This novel does just that, it entertains. For a freshman attempt, it is good. It is interesting that Wong Keltner's characters are all stereotypical. Perhaps she believed that this would appeal to the non-Asian population as well. The female characters (apart from Pau Pau) are all presented as being shallow in one form or manner (why would someone name their child "Armani" or "Prada") while the male characters are portrayed as boorish, nerdy or triads. I know for a fact that there are non-Asians who still truly believe that Asian females are submissive, subservient individuals who kowtow to their husbands/boyfriends. Still, for me, it is the knowledge that it is a stereotype which makes it all the more hilarious.
There were some things mentioned about China which are outdated (not sure when the time frame was when the character actually went to China) but the China of the last 5 years is definitely not as unsophisticated as the novel suggests. However, it's a novel... even Amy Tan's description of a lot of China and issues are from her imagination (although by no means am I comparing Tan to Wong Keltner). Hopefully, in her next novel, Wong Keltner's editor(s) might help her tighten up the chapters a little bit more so it's not jumping around so much. I truly enjoyed how Lindsey's character started to evolve towards the end of the book and hope that in the future, Wong Keltner will develop her heroine along the course of the way instead of the last 3 chapters. All in all, a fun book you can read in a matter of hours!
Rating:
Summary: Dim Sum of My Best Friends...
Review: Ai-ya! Some of the comments here about The Dim Sum of All Things are truly...well, dim. "Manages to be dull and angry simultaneously." You could say that about me, but this book is anything but dull, and only sporadically mad -- and in several shades of that word, at that. Sure, Kim Wong Keltner, the author, goes after those Hoarders of All Things Asian, but she does it with keen, all-too-accurate descriptions of how Hoarders act and talk. I've known a few hoarders in my time, and she's got them down pat. Read the lovely passages about Lindsey's discoveries of her roots in China, and of her rediscovery of a male friend. Where's the anger? The same, one-star reader/reviewer called the book "one-note." Hardly. It's absolutely musical, and I'm not talking karaoke. It's Keltner's writing that sings. She goes from punky and spunky to rhapsodic, romantic, and even touching. Yes, sometimes she gets carried away with details and similes, and yes, she, too, can be stereotypical, as with one of her aunts. But she is simply not guilty, as she's been charged, with concocting a "trite" story that's been heard a zillion times before. Hers is a refreshingly contemporary take on what it's like to be a young Asian-American woman dealing with everyday life while she's tugged and pulled every which way by friends, family, co-workers, strangers, cultural conflicts and obligations, memories, fantasies, and the occasional hilarious daydream/brainstorm. Lindsey conjures a transvestite who writes a film called Slouching Tiger, Hidden Dragqueen. I don't remember anything like that in The Joy Luck Club!
Rating:
Summary: Fluffy beach read
Review: As a Chinese-American woman native to SF, I found most of Lindsey's experiences to ring true. I too have been the object of affection for many "Hoarders" and have been approached on Muni with a "Nee Ho Ma?" more times than I can recall. And the descriptions of Chinatown are right on. But there were some minor nit-picky things that bothered me about the book: 1) I couldn't tell when the story took place. The fact that Lindsey still "teased her bangs" speaks of the eighties but cell phones and digital cameras were popular with her brother and his super Asian friends (definitely post 80s). And who wears a blue sequined sweater with plaid pants and chartreuse socks? 2) The disturbing fact that Lindsey has been the target of racism throughout her life. If you're Chinese (esp. Cantonese), San Francisco is probably the one place where you would least likely experience such racism. Sure I've had the occasional "Don't you know so-and-so since she's Asian too" but for the most part I've been lucky. 3) Why do Asian-Americans love Sanrio? Even my Chinese cousins in Virginia, Texas and Arizona love it. BTW, the Hello Kitty sandwich maker rules!
Rating:
Summary: Fluffy beach read
Review: As a Chinese-American woman native to SF, I found most of Lindsey's experiences to ring true. I too have been the object of affection for many "Hoarders" and have been approached on Muni with a "Nee Ho Ma?" more times than I can recall. And the descriptions of Chinatown are right on. But there were some minor nit-picky things that bothered me about the book: 1) I couldn't tell when the story took place. The fact that Lindsey still "teased her bangs" speaks of the eighties but cell phones and digital cameras were popular with her brother and his super Asian friends (definitely post 80s). And who wears a blue sequined sweater with plaid pants and chartreuse socks? 2) The disturbing fact that Lindsey has been the target of racism throughout her life. If you're Chinese (esp. Cantonese), San Francisco is probably the one place where you would least likely experience such racism. Sure I've had the occasional "Don't you know so-and-so since she's Asian too" but for the most part I've been lucky. 3) Why do Asian-Americans love Sanrio? Even my Chinese cousins in Virginia, Texas and Arizona love it. BTW, the Hello Kitty sandwich maker rules!
Rating:
Summary: Laugh out loud funny
Review: As an Asian (Cantonese)-American, I related all too well with this book. From her cultural embarrassment to her pride, I found it very on point with growing up in the U.S. I've been wanting a book like this for a very long time - thank you Kim Wong Keltner. There are certain elements to the cross cultural lifestyle that most non-Asian Americans would not understand. It brought me back to my childhood with my grandparents. I highly recommend this book!
Rating:
Summary: Fun, Funny & Sentimental
Review: Being an American Cantonese female growing up in SF's Chinatown, this book took me down memory lane. Like Keltner, I am also living in the Sunset District now. I truly enjoyed it since there just isn't enough books in this genre.
Rating: 
Summary: Awful Book
Review: Contrived and with too many things that just do not ring true. Lindsey is Chinese-American, living in Chinatown, with her Chinese grandmother, grew up surrounded by Chinese relatives and yet is so clueless about basic, everyday things....? She is constantly having to have things "explained" to her (e.g. food, customs)by her brother, cousin, etc. It reads like a bad TV movie. She mistakes "lion-dancing" for "line-dancing" at a New Year celebration? Just silly.
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