An unconventional, beguiling, and endearing family tale.
A father suspects his young son may hold the power to see the future in this novel.
Simon Burchwood is a tender father of two with a difficult life. A computer networking specialist who dreams of becoming an author, he spends an inordinate amount of time reflecting on his inadequacies and failures. Following the death of his ex-wife in a motor vehicle accident, Simon must raise Sammie, a bright as a button little boy with special needs, and his elder sister, Jessie, a competitive young girl with a ferocious love of taekwondo. Sammie wants a pet budgerigar (an Australian parakeet), which he plans to name Budgie. Simon begins to suspect that Sammie has unusual abilities when the child foresees his after-school counselor seriously injuring herself. Intrigue builds as Sammie’s apparent mysticism allows him to select a winning lottery ticket at a convenience store. Surprised and alarmed by his son, Simon takes Sammie to a physician but is met initially with skepticism. Yet when Sammie envisions that all is not well with his grandfather, whom he refers to as PeePaw, the clan sets off on a road trip posthaste. The result is a sensitively told story about family bonds and individual dreams. This is the third installment in the life of the fictional wannabe author. Semegran’s (The Meteoric Rise of Simon Burchwood, 2012, etc.) fan base will recognize Simon’s rambling, often crude confessional inner monologue: “Sometimes, kids say the weirdest things at the weirdest times and there really is no rhyme or reason to why they say these things. They just do, and what they say is like an involuntary burp that escapes your mouth an hour after lunch or a silent yet stinky fart that slips out while you’re in an important meeting.” Some readers may quickly dismiss this approach as overly wordy and tiresome, yet Semegran is a persuasive writer, and in this particular story, Simon’s self-doubting verbosity becomes oddly endearing. Sammie is the true star, however—a sparklingly intuitive young character whose few words make the tale truly tick. Simple lines such as “Sorry I told you the truth, Daddy” are not only heart-melting, but also succeed in puncturing the hubris of adult life with the innocence of childhood. Illustrated throughout by Semegran, this book is the author’s best. In these pages, his steadfastly idiosyncratic style really begins to click.
An unconventional, beguiling, and endearing family tale.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-692-92692-5
Page Count: 290
Publisher: Mutt Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With lantern-lit tales of old China, a rich humanity, and an acute ear for bicultural tuning, a splendid first novel—one...
An inordinately moving, electric exploration of two warring cultures fused in love, focused on the lives of four Chinese women—who emigrated, in their youth, at various times, to San Francisco—and their very American 30-ish daughters.
Tan probes the tension of love and often angry bewilderment as the older women watch their daughters "as from another shore," and the daughters struggle to free themselves from maddening threads of arcane obligation. More than the gap between generations, more than the dwindling of old ways, the Chinese mothers most fear that their own hopes and truths—the secret gardens of the spirit that they have cultivated in the very worst of times—will not take root. A Chinese mother's responsibility here is to "give [my daughter] my spirit." The Joy Luck Club, begun in 1939 San Francisco, was a re-creation of the Club founded by Suyuan Woo in a beleaguered Chinese city. There, in the stench of starvation and death, four women told their "good stories," tried their luck with mah-jongg, laughed, and "feasted" on scraps. Should we, thought Suyuan, "wait for death or choose our own happiness?" Now, the Chinese women in America tell their stories (but not to their daughters or to one another): in China, an unwilling bride uses her wits, learns that she is "strong. . .like the wind"; another witnesses the suicide of her mother; and there are tales of terror, humiliation and despair. One recognizes fate but survives. But what of the American daughters—in turn grieved, furious, exasperated, amused ("You can't ever tell a Chinese mother to shut up")? The daughters, in their confessional chapters, have attempted childhood rebellions—like the young chess champion; ever on maternal display, who learned that wiles of the chessboard did not apply when opposing Mother, who had warned her: "Strongest wind cannot be seen." Other daughters—in adulthood, in crises, and drifting or upscale life-styles—tilt with mothers, one of whom wonders: "How can she be her own person? When did I give her up?"
With lantern-lit tales of old China, a rich humanity, and an acute ear for bicultural tuning, a splendid first novel—one that matches the vigor and sensitivity of Maxine Hong Kingston (The Warrior Woman, 1976; China Men, 1980) in her tributes to the abundant heritage of Chinese-Americans.Pub Date: March 22, 1989
ISBN: 0143038095
Page Count: -
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1989
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
Steinbeck's peculiarly intense simplicity of technique is admirably displayed in this vignette — a simple, tragic tale of Mexican little people, a story retold by the pearl divers of a fishing hamlet until it has the quality of folk legend. A young couple content with the humble living allowed them by the syndicate which controls the sale of the mediocre pearls ordinarily found, find their happiness shattered when their baby boy is stung by a scorpion. They dare brave the terrors of a foreign doctor, only to be turned away when all they can offer in payment is spurned. Then comes the miracle. Kino find a great pearl. The future looks bright again. The baby is responding to the treatment his mother had given. But with the pearl, evil enters the hearts of men:- ambition beyond his station emboldens Kino to turn down the price offered by the dealers- he determines to go to the capital for a better market; the doctor, hearing of the pearl, plants the seed of doubt and superstition, endangering the child's life, so that he may get his rake-off; the neighbors and the strangers turn against Kino, burn his hut, ransack his premises, attack him in the dark — and when he kills, in defense, trail him to the mountain hiding place- and kill the child. Then- and then only- does he concede defeat. In sorrow and humility, he returns with his Juana to the ways of his people; the pearl is thrown into the sea.... A parable, this, with no attempt to add to its simple pattern.
Pub Date: Nov. 24, 1947
ISBN: 0140187383
Page Count: 132
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1947
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