People are hurting out there.
NWAW’s May must-reads
By Samantha Pak NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Editor’s note: At the beginning of the year, we ran a poll on our Web site asking our readers whether they liked our book […]
Kids: Travel the world through books
By Thi-Le Vo Northwest Asian Weekly When it comes to children’s books, many have the common assumption that these books can’t offer children more than a cute story and pages […]
Far East awkwardly meets Old West ‘Yellowfish’ review
John Keeble’s novel “Yellowfish” begins in the thick fog of San Francisco’s Chinatown. In such a fog, things disappear
The Wild Kingdom … in my yard
Quiet now. Keep your head down low. Don’t take your eyes off him. If he looks your way, keep still.
The benefits of being a middle child
“I owe my life to two strokes of incredible luck,” writes Sarfraz Manzoor in his memoir. “I was not born female, and I was not the oldest son.” Manzoor discusses his life in a Pakistani immigrant family living in Luton, England. In his father’s rigid household, the first son would follow into the father’s work. The daughter would remain on her best behavior until she found a man to marry.
Nothing learned Kuo novel promotes stereotypes
Alex Kuo’s latest book, “White Jade and Other Stories” rides a rocky divide. Writing from a ChineseAmerican perspective, the short pieces that make up this collection support his personal political agenda. As such his voice does need to be heard, but literature does not sit easy with work that is one-sided, driven by emotion instead of reason and flagrantly guilty of the twin sins of omission and distortion.
Become a spice master at home
Smell is one of life’s most evocative senses. A whiff of cologne takes me back to a dim-lit street where I walked hand-in-hand with my high school sweetheart; the assault of trassi (Indonesian shrimp paste) on my nostrils recalls the days in my mother’s kitchen as she pounded this pungent paste with chilies and garlic in her weathered stone mortar.
Gangster Daddy’s Little Girl
Shoko Tendo grew up a yakuza’s daughter turned into a juvenile delinquent, then a drug addict, then finally a sturdy writer with a compelling memoir. Being daddy’s girl didn’t shield her from much, and her life bore no resemblance to the Western image of a coddled “mafia princess.” Underneath her walking, talking, I-don’t-care exterior is someone who never knew love, security and stability.
Novel closes the generation gap
If ever there were a situation where the phrase “you can’t go home again” would apply, it would be in Many Ly’s second novel for young adults, “Roots and Wings.” Though the phrase should probably be altered to “you can go home again, but prepare to be reminded of why you left.”