Ah, the Power of Fate

The latest issue of Downtown Express, a weekly newspaper serving Lower Manhattan, contains a fond profile of Henry Chang, whose premiere novel, Chinatown Beat, appeared in print late last year. In that piece, by Tina Shah, the 55-year-old author recalls how he had written off publishing his book, after several unsuccessful attempts. But then, providence weighed in:

About two years ago, Chang was walking home from his shift as a security officer near ground zero. As he followed an alley behind the federal prison, he noticed a woman in a wheelchair approaching him. She struck him as someone familiar.

“My God, is that you Henry?” she asked.

“Is that you Doris?” Chang replied.

Chang and Doris Chong, who had not seen each other in more than 15 years, reacquainted. When Chang told her about a novel he wrote on Chinatown almost 20 years ago, Chong, who at the time was the senior editor at Reader’s Digest, said she was interested. But, Chang had already been down that road.

He had started out writing short stories, writing on anything from tablecloths to napkins. But he soon discovered that his stories were more about the darkness engulfing Chinatown than cultural exchanges. His characters began to come to life. After Chang finished writing the book in 1992, he showed it to about six major publishers, but they all had the same answer: there is no niche for a book this “raw.” Chang did not bother to send a copy to Chong, until she called him, insisting.

“I had to go into my closet and the book was so dusty that I had to get a brush to clean it,” Chang said.

Ten months later, Chang received the call he had been anticipating for more than a decade; his book had been sold.

Fans of Chinatown Beat should be delighted by word in Downtown Express that Chang “plans to finish the sequel, Year of the Dog, by this May. He eventually aims to produce a trilogy.”

You can read the full Chang profile here.