- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Viking USA (July 28 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0670020818
- ISBN-13: 978-0670020812
- Product Dimensions: 21.5 x 14 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 431 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #778,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
A funny, heart-warming take on family unity and cultural identity Marie Claire Loaded with tender charm and wry, lightly observed insights Daily Mail A smoothly pleasurable read Guardian Fans of Amy Tan and Monica Ali will love Short Girls, which has already been dubbed a Vietnamese The Joy Luck Club Red An intelligent, bittersweet debut novel Sunday Times Nguyen is an amusing observer of assimilation angst...this gentle-comedy of inter-generational strife is a polished and poised affair Independent
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
Van and Linny Luong are temperamental opposites. Diligent, unassuming Van has found her calling as an immigration lawyer in the midwestern suburbs, but no one knows that her picture-perfect marriage has suddenly evaporated. Her younger sister, Linny, fashion-forward and socially adept, lives in Chicago where she has drifted into a dead-end affair with a married man. Though both women feel untethered and burdened by a secret, they’ve never been able to confide in each other. But then, after nearly thirty years in the U.S., their eccentric, invention-obsessed father decides to take the citizenship oath—a rite of passage he hopes will improve the prospects of his most prized creation, the “Luong Arm,” an instrument to help short people grasp objects that are out of reach. When Van and Linny reluctantly heed the summons home they end up having to plan a celebration for him, replete with cha gio egg rolls and encounters with old friends from years past. In the time warp of a childhood home unaltered since their mother’s death and insulated by the same Vietnamese American community they grew up with, Van and Linny find they are bound by much more than the duties of culture and family history, or their aging father’s demands and whims. As they chart the uncertainty that has defined them, as well as the bitter irony of their romantic straits, Van and Linny discover in their common cause a new, enduring connection that sees them through the host of surprises to come. Bich Minh Nguyen was hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “a writer to watch, a tremendous talent” for her debut memoir, Stealing Buddha’s Dinner, and her charm and shrewd powers of observation are on brilliant display in this first novel. By turns deeply moving, wickedly urbane, and utterly entertaining, Short Girls chronicles the pitfalls and triumphs that govern all family lives. Nguyen’s insights into the complexities of duty, culture, and ambition often shared by the children of immigrants make Van and Linny’s story fresh and unforgettable — a true American tale for our time.
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
CONSUMMATE READER BRINGS SISTERS' STORY TO LIFE,
By
This review is from: Short Girls (Audio CD)
Alice H. Kennedy who read Nguyen's acclaimed memoir Stealing Buddha's Dinner gives equally appealing voice to Short Girls, the author's first foray into fiction. Born in Saigon Kennedy's voice is distinct, clear and easily segues between characters. A slightly more strident tone identifies older sister Van, and a lighter sound captures Linny.The two girls are not close, perhaps unsurprising since they are so different. Van is a law school graduate whose world abruptly changed after 9/11. First, there is a professional failure when she cannot prevent the deportation of a client, next she suffers a miscarraige, and then the final blow - her husband leaves, simply walks away. Linny, on the other hand is a college dropout who happily works at You Did It Dinners where Moms can come for prepared dinners to freeze. She's a fashionista, devoted to designer duds and all things trendy. But lfe is not rosy for Linny either. Her romance with a married man is headed directly for where most of those arrangements go - nowhere. Each could use a sister's shoulder to cry one but they've been estranged for so long. Then they receive a call from their father, Dinh Luong, a man obsessed by the thought that all Americans are tall while those of Vietnamese heritage are short. In attempts to combat what he considers to be a serious drawback he has invented the Luong Arm, which is intended to help the vertically deprived reach objects which would ordinarily be too high for them to reach. Unfortunately his invention has never caught on. Nonetheless, after 28 years he has decided to become an American citizen in the hope that this will help him sell the Luong Arm. He's the last of his friends to give up his green card and he calls his daughters to come home and celebrate the occasion. Upon arrival they find that they're not only there to celebrate but also to plan the festivities. That's not the only surprise that awaits as the two sisters at first reluctantly then slowly begin to discover each other, and find they have more in common than either had ever dreamed. - Gail Cooke
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.9 out of 5 stars (25 customer reviews) 11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Move over Allende and Tan!,
By classyglrl - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Short Girls (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
Bich Minh Nguyen is a breath of fresh air to international women writers. Written in the style of Isabel Allende, but with the flare of Amy Tan, Nguyen does a great job in portraying the daily life struggles young women face in society's inevitable drama, and the life choices they must face, all the while struggling between the internal conflict of who they are raise to become, and what society expects of them, and in the midst? Trying to figure out for themselves what THEY want to be. Regardless of always having to fight the internal conflict of their identity, and the struggle of having two opposing cultures trying to mold them, Nguyen, like most international writer, portrays the pros and cons of either assimilating whole heartedly into mainstream American culture, or simply being culturally pluralistic.Romance, career, and most importantly family is the driving forces behind the main characters' actions. Nguyen let's us into the minds of her characters, but at the same time, as they withhold their secretive thoughts from their loved ones, Nguyen withholds them from the reader as well, teasing the reader from start to finish. A great book about what it is like to be culturally pluralistic in modern American society. 5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Touching, delightful, heart-rending read!,
By Yuni "nut_stud" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Short Girls (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
I'm always excited to read books by new writers and Bich Nguyen debuted with a gem of a read! It chronicles the life and times of a Vietnamese-American immigrant family. It explores the themes of marriage, family, the main character's sisterhood and the relationship with her parents. You don't need to be an immigrant or have a sister to appreciate the nuances and intricacies of Nguyen's writing. I think this story of the ties that bind us speaks to anyone who has experienced solitude, guilt and heartbreak.I like that we get the stories from the perspectives of the two sisters. I feel like Nguyen writes from experience and her heart, which makes this story so relateable and touching. I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel and can't wait to read more of Nguyen's works! 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Short On Charm,
By Jill I. Shtulman - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Short Girls (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
Van and Linny Luong are short girls in a tall world -- a distinctly AMERICAN world. When they are young, their father lines them up to record their heights. Early on in the book, he says, "It's not about being tall. It's about being better than taller people. If you not seen as equal you do whatever you can to make equalness happen."Within these pages, Van and Linny struggle to "make equalness happen." Van escapes from her home through overachieving: she works hard to achieve both at University of Michigan law school, in her ensuing career as a immigration lawyer, and in her young marriage to a well-esconced Chinese American man named Miles. Failure is simply not allowed. Linny, the rebel, takes the opposite tract: she relies on her beauty and sense of fashion to land a job in a catering company and to also land the attractive married husband of one of her customers. But suddenly, they both find themselves on the precipice. Van fails -- for the first time -- on an immigration case as a result of the post 9/11 atmosphere, she miscarries, and her husband leaves her. Linny finds out that her married man is trying for another child; her affair is discovered and she is in danger of losing her job. It is then that both are summoned home by their distant and uninvolved father for his American citizenship ceremony. In another author's hands, this story might be simply that -- a nicely put-together story. It's a testimony to Bich Minh Nguyen's wizardry that the story becomes a whole lot more. It's about discovering a sense of self in an "other" world that is designed for the majority -- the tall people who know the ropes. It's about how we fit into family -- and community -- fighting to be genuine and to keep our own identity. It's about how the world changes for the immigrant after 9/11. And it's about forging new relationships with siblings, aging parents, and most of all, ourselves. It is not a perfect novel. The relationship between Van and Miles, while very interesting, sometimes teeters into a form of disbelief. Would any husband be so cold after his wife's first professional failure, blaming her for the outcome? What was the attraction on his end to begin with if he wanted perfection? Sometimes, the plot twists are just a little too pat. But overall, this was an enjoyable read and a rare look into Vietnamese-American culture. I recommend it. |
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