AsianWeek.com Page 1 of 6 _~Aits & Eneraianent Socom (New [Neve Books Mal = “Notable Books | = ana" By Dulis D. Soe, Sef 203 New and Notables Chinese Boctrs By 3ulle Sc0, Sep 26 ms By Terry Hong, Special to AsianWeek, Sep 26, 2003 Her Bum Is on Fire By Terry Hong, Sep ze, 2003, Brick Lane eter: Gnd so, By Monica Ali (Scribner) cre Wong, S026 A runaway bestseller in its native Britain and quickly climbing the charts on this side of the cones ed pond, Ali's assured debut novel follows the life of . Bangladeshi-born Nazneen, who arrives at age ‘Emil Amok: Recalling 48 in London as the arranged wife of a fat, older Lnchns man, She remains resigned to her new life, as SET Amok, Sep26, wife, then as mother (which translates to housekeeper and cook) until she meets a fiery Washinaton Journal young man who challenges her staid, Hstioneida Imenct ‘submissive existence. aa 2 Pt Tajitau as, The Opium Clerk sens, 2083 By Kunal Basu (Phoenix, distributed by Tratalgar Gera by Samson Square) Wong, Sep 26, 2003 Bom Hiranyagabha Chakraborii in 1857 during eae aes the time of the Indian Mutiny (when indians Birere camnrescee rebelled against the ruling British) on the same 28 day of his father’s death, Hiran (as he comes to be called) discovers he has the uncanny ability Seen aise: to read palms. Not quite 20, he begins work al gy nacay ood, ep an auction house, quickly becoming involved in 26.2008 the affairs of an evil boss and his opium- addicted wife, which takes him on a dangerous journey from Calcutta to faraway Canton. Surfacing Sadness: A Centennial of Korean- bnp://news.asianweck.com/news/view_article html?article id=dd7Saaae7bSb49d225627e6 10/1/2003AsianWeck.com Page 2 of 6 American Literature 1903-2003 Edited by Yearn Hong Choi and Haeng Je Kim (Homa & Sekey Books) ‘What might be considered a companion collection to Century of the Tiger, which debuted in January [see article in the Jan. 23 issue of AsianWeek], this volume is comprised primarily of translations of Korean-language poems, essays and short stories by Korean American immigrant authors. Bollywood Boy By Justine Hardy (John Murray, distributed by Trafalgar Square) Capturing her rollicking journey through India's phenomenal Bollywood industry, journalist Hardy recounts the glitz and glitter of stars, their starlets, directors and Various groupies as she searches for elusive pretty-boy, mega heartthrob Hrithik Roshan. The Fifth Book of Peace By Maxine Hong Kingston (Knopf) Hong Kingston's much awaited new book begins with the calamitous fires in the Oakiand-Berkeley hills of October 1991 that strike as she is driving home from her father’s funeral — the fires that enguff net only countless homes, but takes with it the pages of her new novel. Combining that loss with her thoughts over the destruction wrougnt by the Persian Gulf War, Hong Kingston recreates her lost book and so much more. With Bush's current “war on terrorism,” Peace could not be more timely: “In a time of destruction, create something,” Hong Kingston implores. “A poem. A parade. A community. A school. A vow. Amoral principle, One peaceful moment.” The Namesake By Jhumpa Lehiri (Haughton Mifflin) The glawing debut novel by the author of the hitp://news.asianweek.com/news/view_article html?article_id=dd7Saaae7b5b494225627C6... 10/1/2003AsianWeek.com Page 3 of 6 Pulitzer Prize-winning short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, begins in 1968 with newlyweds-by-arrangement Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli living in Cambridge, Mass. They name their first child Gogol, after the Russian writer wnose story “The Overcoat’ Ashoke was reading when a train accident aimost ended his life. Lahiri delicately weaves intricacies of naming and names throughout this novel that follows Gogo'’s life with frustration and awe disappointment and wonder, tragedy and love — though not necessarily in that order . The Rice Mother By Rani Manicka (Viking) In another British import of a debut novel, Manicke draws from her own history to create a family saga of four generations and 70 years. At the family’s core is its matriarch, Lakshmi, who is married off at age 14 and moves with her much older husband from Ceylon to Malaysia, where she bears six children by the age of 19. Instead of the wealthy, privileged life she is promised, she must struggle to raise her children and keep her family together Literary Occasions: Essays By V.S. Naipaul, introduced and edited by Pankaj Mishra (Knopf) Eleven essays capture almost a half-century of Nobel Prize-winning Naipaul's literary life. The final essay, “Two Worlds,” which he begins and ‘ends by invoking Proust, is the lecture he gave when accepting the Nobel Prize in 2001. Operation Monsoon By Shona Ramaya (Graywolf Press) A striking, original collection of muttilayered short stories about life caught between the old and modem, between expectations and hopes, batwean dreams and reality. The opening story, *Gopal's Kitchen,” is especially poignant about a man who sells his kidney — and eventually itp://news.asianweck.com/newsiview_article html?article_id=dd7Saaae7bSb494225627¢6... 10/1/2003AsianWeek.com Page 4 of 6 loses nis life — to ensure the future of his not- quite sisters. The Yakuza Movie Book: A Guide to Japanese Gangster Films By Mark Schilling (Stone Bridge Press) The yakuza genre, or gangster films, have more of less replaced samurai films in both quentity and popularity in Japan. Schilling, a Japan Times film reviewer since 1989, brings together all the movers and shakers of the yakuza movie industry in a single volume, which offers film history, filmographies and an encyclopedic section of film summaries. ‘Strangers By Taichi Yamada, translated by Wayne Lammers Vertical, Inc.) An entertaining ghost story with a twist about a recently divorced television script writer who takes to visiting his parents ... except they died tragicelly in an accident decades ago, leaving him en orphan from childhood. The more he visits, the more he is physically drained. But only in the eyes of others. To Live By Yu Hua, translated by Michael Berry (Anchor Books/Random House) Originally banned in China, To Live was the basis for the 1994 Cannes Film Festival Grand Prize winner of the same name, directed by grandmaster Zhang Yimou. A surprisingly slim volume, To Live tells the lingering life story of Fugui, who begins his adulthood as a philandorer who gambles away the tamily fortune, becomes a penitent farm only to lose ‘what little he has left during the Cultural Revolution, living out the final years with a single Ox @s his companion. And for the kiddies ... hitp://news.asianweek.com/news/view_article html?article id=dd7Saaae7b5b494225627¢6..._ 10/1/2003AsianWeek.com Page 5 of 6 Leyla: The Black Tulip By Alev Lytle Croutier (Pleasant Company) One of the three newest additions to the Girls of Many Lands series from Pleasant Company (famous for its American Girl series), Leyla tells the story of 2 young girl in 1720 Istanbul who selis herself into siavery to help her suffering family, becomes part of the Topkapi Palace harem and eventually distinguishes herself as both an excellent tulip cultivator and an artist Ping-Li’s Kite By Sanne te Loo (Front Street) In his excitement over building his new kite, young Ping-L flies his creation unfinished. The emperor of the sky tells Ping-Li his unpainted, Undecorated kite is the most boring in the sky, so Ping-Li must build another anew to please the emperor. Coming to America: A Muslim Family's Story By Bernard Wolf (Lee & Low Books) A touching story about an immigrant Muslin family of five from Egypt, which shows details from their everyday lives. The book is especially relevant now, in order to expose young readers to @ people and a religion that have been wrongly demonized by the Wester media. Wolf uses his photography to show how the family fluidly intagrates their religious beliets into their daily activities, and poignantly shows the parents’ hopes and dreams for the futures of their three children. Now and Notable Books is published once a month. 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