Ho Lin’s short story anthology was an interesting read. Each tale aimed to shed light on random moments from varying points of view. He pulls in the reader with unexpected juxtapositions of settings and tone. The collection exudes emotion as if the stories were collective memories meshed together. He rarely delves deep into any specific narratives. The stories bounced between Asia and American even within the same story. We meet an American ex-Pat in China, then a host of characters in San Francisco, while another […]
It’s probably not normal to say this book reminds you of your childhood
It’s true, though–Tales of the City always reminds me of my childhood, because of how much I adored the PBS series when I was younger. I think I was 11 or 12 when I first saw it–my parents and I were watching it, and about ten minutes in, the nudity started. I remember my dad asking my mom if she thought I was too young to be watching, but they let me watch anyway. And I’m glad they did, for 2 reasons: 1) the scene […]
This is the Zodiac Speaking.
I can’t believe it took me so long to read this book. I’ve been fascinated by the Zodiac case for years, ever since I first saw David Fincher’s movie based on this book, but I think I always felt like the book was too dated to bother with since it was written in 1985. Well, I was wrong. This book is completely engrossing. I think most people probably know the basic outline of the Zodiac murders–a serial killer murdered several people in San Francisco in […]
Historical Fluffiness from the Forties
Lisa See, the author of [i]Snow Flower and the Secret Fan[/i], which was a really good book, has delivered a less interesting and slightly faded remix of the same themes Snow Flower had – namely, friendship and Chinese culture. The characters are wooden: good-girl Grace, scandalous Ruby, cantankerous Helen. The story limps along like a wounded homing pigeon, following the “glamour” of the Forties while skipping any of the realities of the second World War. (It does make an appearance, as do the Japanese internment […]
Frantic Avoidance
As a piece of art, I have to give it to Dave Eggers. AHBWOSG is carefully composed, wonderfully constructed, funny, poignant, and moving. But it’s also a pile of emotional bullshit that took me ages to read, and I couldn’t get away from it fast enough once I had inhaled the last intentionally-breakneck run-on paragraph. I have now moved on, immediately and purposefully, to “Men Explain Things to Me.” But back to the “Staggering Genius,” which is a memoir, slightly fictionalized, as Eggers explains […]
Slow Medicine
One of my dearest friends sent me this book for Christmas. I’m glad she did because I had never heard of it, and it’s not something I necessarily would have picked up in the store myself, but it was a fascinating read. God’s Hotel is the story of one doctor’s journey and experience with the last American almshouse in San Francisco called Laguna Honda Hospital. It’s also the story of some of her patients and the changing over from practicing “slow” medicine to providing “efficient health […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- Next Page »