Several weeks ago I wrote about the World of Suzie Wong and my admiration of Nancy Kwan. When I did a little research, I learned she had written a book about her late son, Bernie Pock. This week I read that book.Celebration of a Life: Memories of My Son (N &N … [Read more...]
Book of the week–The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel
In the author's note of The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel (Bloomsbury, 2008), Maureen Lindley writes:...a novel based on the extraordinary life of a Manchu princess whose striking image, that of a beautiful girl in men's clothes, caught my attention when she appeared … [Read more...]
Book of the week–Lucky Girl
After all the tragic Chinese stories I've read--many of them memoirs--you'd think I'd become immune to the sadness and chauvinism in these books.But it never works that way. This week I read Lucky Girl by Mei-Ling Hopgood (Algonquin, 2010), which just came out in … [Read more...]
Book of the week–Girl in Translation
A couple months ago I won Jean Kwok's debut novel from a GoodReads.com raffle. Since I'd planned a weekend trip to New York for the middle of May, I decided to read it on my trip. After all, the book is set in New York and GoodReads sent me a paperback galley.Set in 1980s … [Read more...]
Book of the week–The Ugly American
When my friend Judy lent me Johnny Got His Gun (last's week book of the week), she also brought The Ugly American by William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick (W.W. Norton, 1958).I'm not sure why I hadn't read The Ugly American before. I certainly use the term a lot. And now that … [Read more...]