Reasonable Doubts: Chinese American Identity, Interracial Love, and Model Minority Discourse in Gus Lee’s No Physical Evidence

Calvin Lee McMillin, English

While lawyers often find themselves as the butt of jokes in American culture, they also occupy a space of high esteem. From Atticus Finch and Perry Mason to the legal heroes of John Grisham’s bestselling novels, the lawyer is yet another example of the mythical "Great American Hero," upholding justice and righting wrongs for the common folk. Yet if this protagonist embodies all that is good from American democracy—an individual who, in a sense, represents the myth of America itself—then what happens when you give the familiar Caucasian hero an Asian face?
    That is exactly what Gus Lee does in his 1998 book, "No Physical Evidence." Set in Sacramento, the book revolves around Joshua Jin, a district attorney assigned to prosecute a rape case he seemingly has no chance of winning. By taking a fast-paced legal thriller and infusing it with the cross-cultural concerns of his Chinese American protagonist, Lee merges two seemingly disparate categories – commercial fiction and ethnic literature. While still delivering the kind of story expected of the genre, Lee uses the legal thriller to weave an effective critical metaphor for the Model Minority myth, giving readers an Asian American protagonist who must grapple with a bifurcated sense of self. Using the work of critics in both Asian American literature and detective fiction as a starting point, this essay will both contextualize and critique the vision of Chinese America presented in Gus Lee’s curious hybrid text.