#Monique Truong

[strathshepard]

An-My Lê: Untitled, Nam Ha, 1994, from “Viêt Nam” 

“Whenever I had very difficult decisions to make, I would just suffer and torture myself trying to think through all the possible outcomes. And obviously, you never get to the end of it because you just can’t know. So I would tell my younger self, ‘It’s okay to use your brain and try to think through things, but then just dive in and things will work out.’” –An-My Lê to Monique Truong and Ocean Vuong at The Brooklyn Rail

[brechtian]

we swore not to die on the kitchen floor

“Heel Turn 2” - The Mountain Goats / Book of Salt - Monique Truong / “If We Must Die” - Claude McKay / To The Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf

[bookola-de]

Rezension: Simone Kabst liest einen Gemeinschaftsroman - Vierzehn Tage

Simone Kabst liest einen Gemeinschaftsroman der Herausgeber Margaret Atwood und Douglas Preston Mord kennt kein Alter von 36 Autoren Rezension © 2024 by Ute Spangenmacher für BookOla.de 2024 Hörbuch Hamburg Sprecherin: Simone Kabst ungekürzte Lesung Laufzeit: 929 Minuten Multimedia CD ISBN: 978-3-8449-2944-7 Erscheinungstermin: 15.02.2024 bestellen bei Amazon   Continue reading Rezension:…

[morgan--reads]

The Book of Salt - Monique Truong

Summary: Having fled Vietnam after a scandal, Binh heads to Paris where he answers the ad of two American ladies—Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas—for a live-in cook. 

Quote: “The irony of acquiring a foreign tongue is that I have amassed just enough cheap, serviceable words to fuel my desires and never, never enough lavish, impudent ones to feed them.”

My rating: 3.0/5.0   Goodreads: 3.52/5.0 

Review: The book has two strengths that kept me turning the pages: the absolutely gorgeous writing and the relationship between Toklas and Stein. The relationship is rendered in such intimate and charming specificity that they immediately felt like real people, instead of flat historical figures constructed of biographical facts. The whole story feels lived in in that way, but Binh’s sad, meandering tale is not nearly as compelling as the setting it takes place in. There are too many unclear shifts back and forth in time and Binh has no real arc or growth.

Read-alike: Giovanni's Room - James Baldwin

[ugisfeelings]

An interview with Monique Truong

How did you get the idea for your book? When I was in college, I bought a copy of the Alice B. Toklas Cook Book because I was curious about Toklas' hash brownie recipe. It turned out that the famous recipe was not a Toklas recipe at all, but one submitted by the artist Brion Gysin in a chapter called "Recipes from Friends." Gysin's recipe was actually for a "haschich fudge" and was for a sort of dried fruit bar concoction "dusted" with a bunch of pulverized "canibus sativa." It didn't sound tasty to me, but I read the rest of the book anyway and found that it was less of a cookbook and more of a memoir. In a chapter called "Servants in France," Toklas wrote about two "Indochinese" men who cooked for Toklas and Stein at 27 rue de Fleurus and at their summer house in Bilignin. One of these cooks responded to an ad placed by Toklas in the newspaper that began "Two Americans ladies wish- " By this point in the cook book, I had already fallen for these two women and for their ability to create an idiosyncratic, idyllic life for one another. When I got to the pages about these cooks, I was to say the least surprised and touched to see a Vietnamese presence and such an intimate one at that in the lives of these two women. These cooks must have seen everything, I thought. But in the official history of the Lost Generation, the Paris of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, these "Indo-Chinese" cooks were just a minor footnote. There could be a personal epic embedded inside that footnote, I thought. The Book of Salt is that story, as told from the perspective of Bình, a twenty-six-year old Vietnamese man living in Paris in the late 1920's. I have imagined him as one of the candidates who answered Stein and Toklas' classified ad.

Is there really a manuscript by Stein entitled The Book of Salt? No, I made that manuscript up. In the novel, Bình claims that Stein's The Book of Salt is about him. Stein has certainly written about cooks and servants. In Portraits and Prayers, for instance, there is a piece called "B. B. or the Birthplace of Bonnes" about all the women from Brittany who had worked in the Stein and Toklas' household. Also, two of the "lives" in Stein's Three Lives were servants. So, it does not seem improbable to me that Stein could have devoted a few words to a cook like Bình. What inspired you to include a fictionalized Ho Chi Minh in the novel? Actually, I think of the character in The Book of Salt as a fictionalized Nguyen Ai Quoc as opposed to a fictionalized Ho Chi Minh. From what I have read about him, his name changes often signaled or accompanied a significant change in the man as well. When he was in Paris, he was literally "a man on the bridge" between democracy and socialism. He eventually felt rejected by both and turned towards communism to reach his goal of independence and self-determination for Vietnam. By that time, he was well on his way to becoming Ho Chi Minh. The man that interested me was Nguyen Ai Quoc, the young man living in Paris who read Shakespeare and Dickens in the original English, who wrote plays and newspaper articles, who earned money as a painter of fake Chinese souvenirs, a photographer's assistant. In the novel, "the man on the bridge" tells Bình that he also worked as a cook. Is this based on fact? Yes, I had done some research on Nguyen Ai Quoc because someone told me that he had been a cook in France. It turned out that he was an assistant cook at the pie bakery of the Carlton Hotel in London, whose kitchen at that time was under the supervision of the legendary French chef Auguste Escoffier. As a young man, he had left Vietnam by working as a "mess boy" on a French ocean liner going from Saigon to Marseilles. I decided that my cook, Bình, would take a similar route. Many of Bình's experiences on the fictional freighter Niobe were based on or inspired by the more well-documented experiences of Ba, as he called himself then, on the Latouche Treville. Nguyen Ai Quoc's travels out of Vietnam began in 1911, and they took him to Dakar, Brooklyn, London, Paris and many other port cities around the world. From 1917 to 1923 he lived in Paris. Some time in the summer of 1923, he left Paris for Moscow to begin his full-time education and activity as a "revolutionary."

(x).

[nedlittle]

apropos of nothing, here are some gay historical fiction novels that engage with historical queerness in thoughtful, complex, and interesting ways (organized chronologically)

hild by nicola griffith ↪ early 7th century england

a tip for the hangman by alison epstein ↪ 1585-1593 england

confessions of the fox by jordy rosenberg ↪ 1702-1724* england

the confessions of frannie langton by sara collins ↪ 1812-1826 jamaica to england

patience and sarah by isabel miller ↪ 1816 america

devotion by hannah kent ↪ 1830s prussia to australia

the sweetness of water by nathan harris ↪ 1865 america

whiskey when we're dry by john larison ↪ 1885 america

the city of palaces by michael nava ↪ 1897-1913 mexico

tipping the velvet by sarah waters ↪ 1890s england

at swim, two boys by jamie o'neill ↪ 1915-1916 ireland

the gods of tango by caro de robertis ↪ 1913-1920s argentina

uncommon charm by emily bergslien and kat weaver ↪ 1920s america

the book of salt by monique truong ↪ 1930s vietnam to paris

the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay by michael chabon ↪ 1939-1954 america and beyond

the flight portfolio by julie orringer ↪ 1940 france

the savage kind by john copenhaver ↪ 1940s america

a thin bright line by lucy jane bledsoe ↪ 1950s america

*this one has a framing device and footnotes from the present day but the bulk of the story is set in the early 1700s

[haysianrose]

An Ode to the Áo Dài

The traditional Vietnamese garment, which translates to “long shirt,” has been reimagined as a modern heirloom, writes author Thao Thai.

[...]

When Kelly Marie Tran wore an áo dài designed by Thái Nguyễn to the Oscars in 2022, this moment created a magnificent stir, both among Americans and Vietnamese people of the diaspora who’d never seen our national garment represented on a red carpet. It was, in so many ways, a kind of permission to exist outside of the margins, to have our culture spotlit without explanation or apology.

Nguyễn remembers receiving a phone call from Tran, who asked if it was possible to create an áo dài in three days. He said, “[That call] woke me up.” After 16 hours of work, the team at Thái Nguyễn Atelier finished the áo dài hours before the award show. Nguyễn describes the way that American PR companies and buyers once told him that his name and identity were too ethnic; they didn’t think an áo dài would ever be a mainstream garment. “I’ve been yearning for that moment,” Nguyễn says, recalling the first time he saw Tran at the Oscars. “Afterward, a Vietnamese follower sent me a photo of her five-year-old daughter in an áo dài and said, ‘She can wear this now to a birthday party, instead of a Cinderella or Snow White gown.’” In fact, Nguyễn is co-writing Mai’s Ao Dai, a children’s book about a girl who discovers the beauty of áo dài, with Vietnamese American writer Monique Truong. Such representation is already changing the way younger generations are embracing the áo dài.

Full article.

[suguwu]

Do you have any fav books?? :)

i do!! admittedly i don't read much anymore but i'm trying to get back into it! so if anyone has any recs i am all ears.

some of my favorites, though: frankenstein, the mermaid's daughter, the bone people, the lace reader, good omens, sharp objects, basically anything discworld by terry pratchett, the book of salt (monique truong), the book of salt (patricia highsmith), and the omnivore's dilemma all come to mind!

[magiccarpetman]

Autumn Reading List

Now Reading:

Honor, Vengeance, and Social Trouble by Peter Arnade and Walter Prevenier

The Book of Salt by Monique Truong (Page 134/261)

The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Betty G. Birney (Page 36/210)

Next Up:

The Wedding People by Allison Espach

Finished books under cut.

Words words words

[gigantic-spider]

The Dispossessed design commentary, cont.

Today I wanted to talk about one of the Playbook Moves for The Dispossessed.

The whole Playbook emerges from the central metaphor that this whole playbook came from: being an immigrant in a foreign country. Now this comes with a biiiiiiig caveat: I myself am not an immigrant. I am also not trying to portray a specific immigrant experience here, but rather using the lens of a literal alien from another planet to explore what that kind of person might feel like. The ideas in this playbook are also rooted in a number of Asian-American books I read as part of an English course dealing with migration, melancholia, and memory. Some of the books I most highly recommend from that course (not necessarily as inspirations for this, just things that I really enjoyed):

No-No Boy by John Okada

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Book of Salt by Monique Truong

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

All this said, let's return to this Move. The name (as all the names of Moves in this Playbook) comes from an H.G. Wells novel (of The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds fame). Originally, "Bulpington of Blup" was titled "Stranger in a Strange Land" after the Robert Heinlein novel, but it just stuck out too much (for me) from the rest of them. So instead, I combed through Wells' list of novels and found this strange one where an otherwise ordinary man comes to be dominated by some complex of behavior that destabilizes his relationship to the world.

This Move is interesting to me, because it plays on the disconnect between the dominant mode of society (Earth, but specifically Victorian London) and the foreign mode of behavior (the way of life that your alien was brought up in). The Playbook starts with a -1 in Presence (the social skill), meaning that you have a base ~58% chance to fully fail any action based on social skills. By leaning into the strangeness of your alien customs, you can always succeed with a cost, disconcerting upper class Londoners but exposing yourself to their withering regard. Are you willing to gamble that someone will take you seriously when you play their game? Or will you disavow their rules and reap the rewards/suffer the consequences?

This Move also pairs with one of the Masks of the Future (a way to improve roll results and change your character during play):

Almost all the Masks of the Future in this Playbook involve losing one of your Moves (and you start with all of them) in return for a bump to a stat. This Mask shows your alien losing their strange behaviors/their behaviors being co-opted as amusing to the elite. You have become less strange and offputting to Londoners, but at the cost of being forced into a form more comprehensible and comfortable to them.

My main goal with the design choices in this Playbook is to show the player a variety of paths forward, all with clear(ish) signposting. Don't like feeling on the outside of society? Feel free to use that Mask first chance you get! Enjoy being rewarded for inventing strange customs from your home planet? Never touch that Mask! The design definitely follows a fairly particular (and pretty standard) version of an immigrant experience, but I like it because I see similarities between it and my experience as a queer person. There are choices to be made, compromises that have to be navigated, and options about your uniqueness and character that have to be weighed without any clear correct answers available.

[charliejaneanders]

I feel like I'm in pretty good company here

(This is the cover and description of Fourteen Days, edited by Margaret Atwood, featuring my name alongside Margaret Atwood, Jennine Capó Crucet, Joseph Cassara, Angie Cruz, Pat Cummings, Sylvia Day, Emma Donoghue, Dave Eggers, Diana Gabaldon, Tess Gerritsen, John Grisham, Maria Hinojosa, Mira Jacob, Erica Jong, CJ Lyons, Celeste Ng, Tommy Orange, Mary Pope Osborne, Douglas Preston, Alice Randall, Ishmael Reed, Roxana Robinson, Nelly Rosario, James Shapiro, Hampton Sides, R.L. Stine, Nafissa Thompson-Spires, Monique Truong, Scott Turow, Luis Alberto Urrea, Rachel Vail, Weike Wang, Caroline Randall Williams, De’Shawn Charles Winslow, and Meg Wolitzer)

[coconutcordiale]

17 q's

thank you sm @double-j @heartsofminds @mothdruid @mandylove1000 for tagging me ily all this was fun!

nickname; mae (it's my middle name)

sign; virgo

height; i literally thought i was 5'2 my entire adult life and then went to my flight physical a few months ago to have the nurse tell me i was 5'4 so let's go with 5'3

last thing i googled; 'hurt locker cereal scene' because it's not enough that i watched the movie last night i now have to watch that scene 10 times so i can write a stupid long fic inspired by it (don't come for me, i know i have other stuff to finish. but for real that scene is brilliant)

song stuck in head; summer in new york- sofi tukker

number of followers; 1044 (i love you guys tysm for following me even though i'm unhinged)

amount of sleep; 6 hours which is low for me i'm a 9 hour kinda gal but i stayed up late watching hell or high water (that movie is so good how i have i not seen it before - my dads been telling me to watch it since it came out i really should listen to him more)

lucky number; i really like the number 39. and 19. no idea why. so my lucky number is probably 9?

dream job; writer (yes i know i'm in flight school don't talk to me it's for the $$ and to only work 3 days a week)

wearing; ptula leggings, aerie sports bra, socks with wine glasses on them (????), tcu sweatshirt

movie/book that summarizes you; oh man this is a loaded question. am i allowed to say new girl? i don't have roommates anymore but the whole running theme of trying to figure yourself out, you and all your friends being too old to act the way you do (ex: my friends are getting a bounce house for their nye party), having to grow up but not really wanting to while simultaneously feeling very old. i'm at the age where most acquaintances have started getting married and having kids but the people in my core group are not there yet (and may never be). a lot of that show hits home

favorite song; SO MANY so i have to give you a few, ones that have stuck with me through the years that always hit no matter what mood i'm in

future people- alabama shakes

arabella- arctic monkeys

late night- odesza

favorite instrument; the cello. no rhyme or reason. i just love it i think it's hauntingly beautiful (see above about new girl summarizing me: i'm nick miller with good hygiene)

aesthetic; very 70s / 80s (but think like, everybody wants some 80s not hairband 80s). i love bright, bold, lots of color, maximalist style. modern farmhouse makes me shake with anger

favorite author; oooooh boy. i'm weird about claiming specific authors because people love to disappoint you so lets go with favorite books

the book of salt- monique truong

a visit from the goon squad- jennifer egan

welcome to my country- lauren slater

confessions of a sociopath- m.e. thomas

i'm also in the middle of devotion- adam makos & flights- olga tokarczuk right now and they're both fantastic

fun fact- i learned how to make latte art years ago??? i'm pretty sure i could deadlift glen powell?? i've been to every us state except 2? i have no idea what i'm doing with my life? do these qualify, idk

no pressure tags- @currentlybradshaw @thewrittennerd @sweetlittlegingy @marsontoast @justfandomwritings @stickxjockey @forever-sleepy-sloth @gigisimsonmars @oncasette