Read This!: Handpicked Favorites from America's Indie Bookstores
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"There is no greater joy for a bookseller than introducing a reader to a book they will love for the...
ClareR (5726 KP) rated Build Your Home Around My Body in Books
Jul 28, 2021
Winnie is a lost soul - she has gone to Vietnam to stay with family while she teaches English to Vietnamese students, hoping to find herself, but she seems to become more and more lost as the story progresses. She struggles with her dual identity as her mother is American, and her father is Vietnamese. The fact that she seems to deliberately sabotage her own life is the most tragic thing about her.
The time does jump around a bit, but this didn’t confuse me at all - the chapter headings made sure of that - in fact they gave some interesting history lessons (e.g. French colonialism, Japanese occupation).
It’s a weird and wonderful one (my favourite kind!), sometimes bordering on the grotesque (ditto). Bodily functions and food that I wasn’t sure about, galore! (I’d still try the food though, although I draw the line at dog…).
The supernatural elements showed that these things are still very much a part of Vietnamese culture (spirits and demons both feature).
Some parts are achingly sad, some made me feel a bit ill, and others were actually quite amusing. I couldn’t put this book down. The joy of it was that I didn’t know, couldn’t predict, what was going to happen next!
I’m really interested to see what Kupersmith writes next if this is her debut - what an imagination!
Many thanks to Jellybooks for giving me the chance to read this wonderful book.
Thompson regarded it as a "failed experiment"' in Gonzo Journalism due to the fact it was edited several times before publication. Typically, a Gonzo work would be written by and about the author in the present, sent away without being edited, resulting in a stream-of-consciousness narrative and more personality. Gonzo works are far more revealing, fiction-like and personal than typical works of journalism. Despite the fact it was edited, however, I feel F&L still emulates everything Thompson wanted in a true Gonzo way. He holds nothing back, reveals everything and created a story than could be fiction. It is a drug-fuelled look at the failure of the American Dream, an astute analysis of Thompson's society and a weird book that will stay with you forever.
The Unexpected President: Chester A. Arthur--His Life and Times
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When President James Garfield was shot, no one in the United States was more dismayed than his Vice...
Bonsai and Penjing: Ambassadors of Peace and Beauty
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This book tells the awe-inspiring stories of bonsai and penjing trees in the collection of the...
Into Silence and Servitude: How American Girls Became Nuns, 1945-1965
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For many American Catholics in the twentieth-century the face of the Church was a woman's face....
Elia Kazan: A Biography
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Few figures in film and theater history tower like Elia Kazan. Born in 1909 to Greek parents in...
Legalized Casino Gaming in the United States: The Economic and Social Impact
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Covering the entire United States gaming market, Legalized Casino Gaming in the United States...
Hero of the Empire: The Making of Winston Churchill
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'Completely engrossing' Andrew Roberts From The New York Times bestselling author Candice Millard,...
Oscar Wilde
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In this long-awaited bioraphy, Wilde the legendary Victorian - brilliant writer and...