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PRODUCT
Viewfinder: A Memoir of Seeing and Being Seen
Product Description:
Price:
$20.29
Detailed description:
From visionary director Jon M. Chu comes a powerful, inspiring memoir of belonging, creativity, and learning to see who you really are.
“A must-read for aspiring artists and dreamers of all kinds.”—Ava DuVernay
Long before he directed Wicked, In The Heights, or the groundbreaking film Crazy Rich Asians, Jon M. Chu was a movie-obsessed first-generation Chinese American, helping at his parents’ Chinese restaurant in Silicon Valley and forever facing the cultural identity crisis endemic to children of immigrants. Growing up on the cutting edge of twenty-first-century technology gave Chu the tools he needed to make his mark at USC film school, and to be discovered by Steven Spielberg, but he soon found himself struggling to understand who he was. In this book, for the first time, Chu turns the lens on his own life and work, telling the universal story of questioning what it means when your dreams collide with your circumstances, and showing how it’s possible to succeed even when the world changes beyond all recognition.
With striking candor and unrivaled insights, Chu offers a firsthand account of the collision of Silicon Valley and Hollywood—what it’s been like to watch his old world shatter and reshape his new one. Ultimately, Viewfinder is about reckoning with your own story, becoming your most creative self, and finding a path all your own.
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Product group:
Categories: Arts & Photography
Product name:
Viewfinder: A Memoir of Seeing and Being Seen
Price:
$20.29
M. Ma –
As a mother of a teenage Asian boy who loves filmmaking and lives in the same neighborhood as Jon, I bought his book the moment I heard about it. Although I initially purchased it for my son, thinking he could learn from Jon’s experiences, my curiosity got the better of me when it arrived. Over the weekend, I found myself engrossed in the many relatable and fascinating stories. My three kids heard me shouting snippets of the stories across the house, eager to share.
However, it didn’t take long for me to realize that, despite my enthusiasm, I was subconsciously withholding some of the painful and honest moments. These were truths I wasn’t ready to share with my children, who, like Jon during his childhood, have largely been shielded in the Silicon Valley’s bubble. As I read on, my maternal instinct to protect them only grew stronger. I started to question whether I was prepared to encourage my filmmaking son to actually read the book.
I thought of reassuring myself that times have changed, but I had to admit that progress has been slow, which we have experienced ourselves time and time again because all three of my children are also working actors. Perhaps they can read Jons book in college, so I thought.
I remembered watching “Crazy Rich Asians” when it first came out and the feeling of pain from the stairs scene where Michelle Yeoh’s character tells Constance Wu that she’ll never be good enough. Reading Jon’s account of how that line was conceived, and how Constance couldnt stop crying during those takes, brought me to tears so much so that I couldn’t stop crying either holding the page.
Thank you, Jon, for writing this book. We are beyond grateful for who you are and what you’ve done for our community!
L. Lowe –
This is a very readable autobiography. It was informative and creative without being too dry. There were a few parts that were a little repetitive that I skimmed over a bit, but for the most part I enjoyed reading it. I was interested in the descriptions of how he “tells the story” when he’s making a movie. There was meat to the story, too, not just an ‘all about me’ bio. This delves into Asian American hate crimes and trying to figure out his own existence. I am glad to read about using your fame to help others, especially in an underrepresented group of people. There are good human beings in the world!!
mommy2asweetie –
I really enjoyed reading this book about Jon Chu. It was a fascinating look into his life and what makes him choose what movies to take on and what he wants to portray in each one. I can’t wait to see his take on “Wicked”! Highly recommend this one if you like a good memoir.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely
KSon –
As a person who loved Crazy Rich Asians, I couldn’t resist this book. An intricate look into how this author made his way to making movies, and being raised as an Asian American. A very engaging and relatable story which I found to be both revealing and entertaining.
Incremental technology advances, movie magic innovations, influential directors, family, school and so much more. Very well done, and insights such as the dumpling making scene came from his real-life experience.
The book sequel to Crazy Rich Asians is out, and was excellent, titled Lies and Weddings. I hope they turn this into a movie with Jon M Chu as director.
***** I am voluntarily leaving my honest review of this book *****
Karen Cooley –
I bought this for my 17 yr old grandson, a budding film maker. He loves it!
sonnysmom –
WOW! What an extremely inspiring read! I knew nothing about Jon Chu before I started reading this book.
Interesting learning about all the process of directing films. I loved all the parts about the behind the scenes of making Crazy Rich Asians. I was lucky to have met Kevin Kwan when he came to my book club after the book was released.
This was a powerful memoir. The preservance, creativity speaks of Jon finding a place where he belonged.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this book.
Hollie Reads Romance –
A quick memoir read into the life of director Jon M Chu. I enjoyed different stories about his family and the talk about his time on Crazy Rich Asians and how it helped him in accepting the power of being fully himself in life and Hollywood. One of the things that I didn’t enjoy so much were the random boxes that would appear in the middle of the text to add in another quick story that didn’t fit in at the moment. It interrupted the flow of each chapter and I found myself confused as to whether I was supposed to stop to read them or come back to them after finishing the chapter. I also found myself wanting Chu to dig just a bit deeper. There were all these moments in the book where it felt like he was about to be very open and honest about moments in his life or career and then it would stop right at the surface. In the end the memoir read more as a marketing tool for Wicked which is Chu’s upcoming project that studios have put a lot of money into.