This is somewhat of a jumbo-sized coffee table book, but so enjoyable to read through and look at all the memorabilia. The author and his wife Lorraine, with an intro by Lisa See, provides an overview of the Chinese night club scene with a primary focus on "The Forbidden City" in San Francisco. There is an extensive interview with Charlie Low, the owner and MC of the club for about 24 Years and then excerpts from about 15 interviews with dancers and singers and the prime choreographer for The Forbidden City. The interviews were all conducted in the mid to late 1980's as part of a documentary film the author made. I think most of these interesting people have now passed on. After all the interviews, there is a discussion of a number of other Chinese Night Clubs and then many more pages of photographs of all sorts of memorabilia such as matchbook covers, menus, napkins and photo folders.

The various interviews allow the reader to see a variety of personal histories and stories (and a few very over-sized personalities!) and also form their own picture of the overall scene and get a much better picture of some of the main characters such as Charlie Low and featured performers. My one minor complaint is that there is some duplication among the various interview excerpts. Very enjoyable as well as an excellent companion to Lisa See's novel "China Dolls." ( )