Interviews Renee H. Shea Monique Truong / Photo © Haruka Sakaguchi Monique Truong, who came to the United States in 1975 as a refugee from Vietnam, began exploring untold and ignored histories in her first novel, The Book of Salt (2003), told through the voice of Binh, the cook of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas in Paris. Her autobiographical second novel, Bitter in the Mouth (2010) is a coming-of-age story set in North Carolina. In her most recent novel, The Sweetest Fruits (Viking, 2019), Truong tells the story of Lafcadio Hearn from the perspective of three women: his mother, Rosa; his first wife, Alethea; and his Japanese wife, Setsu. Shea: At its core, The Sweetest Fruits is a story about storytelling—and it’s Russian dolls of narrative! It’s not only that three different women have their say about Hearn and their relationship with him, but each is telling her story to a specific audience—so issues of mediation and agency add further complications, as do oral vs. written stories and translation. How did you arrive at this approach instead of just telling the story in the voice of one person, then the next, then the next? Truong: This question is a Russian doll of inquiries! You’re absolutely right that the novel is interested in the different ways that stories are transmitted to us: oral vs. written, in our mother tongue vs. in translation, private story vs. public history, women’s voices vs. men’s, face-to-face vs.... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2019-09-17 13:54:26 UTC ]
Bloomsbury will publish A Table for Friends: The Art of Cooking for Two or Twenty, the second cookbook from Skye McAlpine. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-14 08:34:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Novelists rub shoulders with presidents, chefs, comedians and thriller megastars on longlist to define the title with the biggest impact on the book worldIt could be almost the setup for a joke, but a former president, a Booker winner and an erotic fiction superstar have walked on to the British... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-02-14 06:01:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this
James Wood writes about the novelist Daniel Kehlmann, who evokes an era of doctrinal fervor—and brings to life a mythical trickster. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2020-02-10 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
This week, Kevin Wilson reviews Stephen Wright’s new novel, “Processed Cheese.” In 2006, Laura Miller wrote for the Book Review about “The Amalgamation Polka,” Wright’s novel about the descendant of both ardent abolitionists and unwavering slaveholders. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-01-31 10:00:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Walker Books will publish "The Great British Bake Off" winner David Atherton's children's cookbook. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-10 06:59:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Food blogger Alex Snodgrass has the #2 book in the country with the Whole30-endorsed cookbook ‘The Defined Dish.’ Plus Kiley Reid debuts with the book-club favorite ‘Such a Fun Darling,’ and Andrzej Sapkowski’s ‘The Witcher’ books get a boost from the new Netflix series. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-01-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
HarperCollins has wrapped up a deal for the "life-changing" freezer-filling cookbook from Shivi Ramoutar. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-08 12:50:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Many organizations have been affected by recent cyber events. At the current rate of hacking, it has become more important than ever to pentest your environment in order to ensure advanced-level security. Kali Linux -- An Ethical Hacker's Cookbook from Packt Publishing is packed with practical... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2020-01-07 19:02:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Like food? Like comics? Turns out you can combine the two and create a comic cookbook that's a lot like the old Food Network shows. Warning: don't go in hungry. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-01-06 11:34:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The 1890s saw pioneering works of science fiction, detective fiction, and Gothic horror all published, by some of the greatest English, Scottish, and Irish writers of the age. In the United States, too, novelists addressed social issues, sometimes in comic ways, while social realism continued to... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2019-12-31 15:00:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this
An author and teacher says reading historical fiction is one way for adolescents to see beyond the present. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-12-20 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A BookLife Prize finalist discusses her newly published historical fiction novel. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-12-20 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
“The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison” capture the fiercely intelligent and irreverent author of “Invisible Man” in conversation with other novelists and critics of his day. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-12-19 10:00:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A daily roundup of the most interesting and awesome bookish links from around the web! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-12-17 11:30:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this
What would the Anthropocene look like on other planets? Christopher Schaberg on searching for ourselves beyond Earth. | Lit Hub We have a new favorite cookbook and it’s the 1970s classic Cooking for Orgies and Other Large Parties. | Lit Hub The rise of the downfall of the dirtbag heiress:... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-12-13 11:30:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this
It was not the first self-published cookbook in the history of the world, but it is definitely the most successful: The Joy of Cooking, first released in 1931 by Irma Rombauer, has taught generations of Americans to “Stand facing the stove.” For decades, Rombauer’s “action method” of writing... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-12-13 09:51:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Hosting a dinner party can be scary. It can feel like there’s pressure to be perfect, to set up some elaborate “tablescape” or make food so extravagant, complicated, or Instagrammable that it verges on the absurd. Now there is a significant food writing movement working to counteract that... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-12-13 09:49:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this
It can seem like every historical fiction read focuses on one event, but we've got historical fiction novels not set in WWII for the Read Harder challenge. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-12-12 11:32:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A deliciously original study of the cheap editions of Pride and Prejudice and other novels – ignored by literary scholars – casts new light on her readershipJane Austen aficionados think that they know the story of their favourite author’s posthumous dis-appearance and then re-emergence. For... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-12-11 07:30:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Next time you or the kids are looking for an informative nonfiction or historical fiction read, pick up one of these comics about history and culture. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-12-10 11:42:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this