Happy anniversary to Last Night at the Telegraph Club!

Me and my book in 2021, when it first came out.

Five years ago today, on Jan. 19, 2021, Last Night at the Telegraph Club was first published. It has had such an incredible journey over the last five years!

It was my sixth novel, and it came out during the first year of the covid pandemic, so I was only able to do virtual book events. We were all still mostly staying at home. But luckily, I got to do those virtual events with my friends in different cities, and I even got to do my first book event in London — over zoom!

Telegraph Club sold pretty well when it first came out, but not enough to hit the New York Times bestseller list. It did hit the Indie Bestseller list, which means it was doing really well in independent bookstores. This was a huge surprise to me because it had never occurred to me this book could be a bestseller anywhere. I truly did not believe that a historical novel about Chinese American lesbians could be a big success. But Telegraph Club stayed on the Indie bestseller list for 20 weeks, and I'm so grateful to indie bookstores for championing this book from the beginning.

I was even more surprised in September 2021 when Telegraph Club was selected for the National Book Award longlist. The morning the lists were announced, my editor called to say congratulations, and I remember I didn't even know what he was talking about! I hadn't known that the National Book Awards even had a long list, or when it was announced.

But the National Book Award longlist made me realize this book was really something special. It had already gotten eight starred reviews, but a National Book Award was a whole different level. It was stressful, too, because a few weeks later the long list was culled into a short list, and I had no idea if Telegraph Club would make the cut.

I didn't know they would tell me in advance of the shortlist coming out, and I didn't hear my phone ringing the night before the shortlist was announced. Sometime later I discovered I had a voicemail message from a New York phone number, and it told me my book had made the cut. I was so thrilled! But the voicemail told me not to tell anyone, so I didn't even tell my publishing team — they had to find out the next day when the short lists were announced in the press. (Sorry, team! If there's ever a next time, I'll tell you!)

The National Book Awards were virtual in 2021, so when I accepted the award I was in my house with my wife and our dog. I was so nervous I couldn't eat all day, which if you know me, you'll know that meant I was extremely nervous. If you'd like to watch my acceptance speech, it's here on YouTube. I'm glad there's a video recording because it was a total out-of-body experience for me, and I don't remember it.

After the award, the book just kept getting bigger. When it came out in paperback, it finally hit the New York Times bestseller list, and was on it for five months. It won several more awards, and rights were sold in 13 countries outside the US. It has now been translated into 11 more languages. (All those details are here if you want to see them.)

Last Night at the Telegraph Club is by far my most successful book. As of now, there are almost half a million copies in print worldwide. (I'm stunned by this!)

But when I think about what this book means to me as a writer, I always return to the feeling I had when I finished the last draft in late 2019. I had worked on it for almost three years by then, and I remember feeling certain that Telegraph Club was a good book. I don't always feel this way when I'm finished writing a book! It was very unusual for me to feel so sure, and I recognized this. But I knew that Telegraph Club was the best thing I had written to date, and I was very proud of it. I'm still proud of it. Thank you for reading it.

Happy anniversary!