Ching Ling Foo: America's First Chinese Superstar by Samuel D. Porteous
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After the Chinese Exclusion Act was signed into law in 1882, the American people slowly started to get exposed to the mythos of Chinese culture and rapidly began to lust for anything to do with them (even while telling them they did not belong and could never become a permanent part of this country). From food to labor and magic, we were spellbound. And in this time, Ching Ling Foo rose to stardom, he was a great illusionist and knew instinctually how to market himself effectively. Faced with numerous setbacks and a devilishly clever rival, Ching ruled his fame for 20 years and showed America, what it meant to be Chinese.
This biography was extremely well written, at times educational and others entertaining, the story of Ling’s success unfolds from the beginning to the end and the author does an extremely well job in hooking us from the beginning. I was so excited to hear about someone from Asian descent before the times of Bruce Lee and was certainly not disappointed.


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