About
National Book Award-winner Ha Jin brings us a collection of stories that delve into the experiences of Chinese immigrants in America. All of Ha Jin's characters struggle in situations that stir their conflicting desires to remain attached to their native land and traditions while also exploring their newfound social and economic freedoms.
A lonely composer takes comfort in the songs of his girlfriend's parakeet; a group of young children declare their wish to change their names so that they might sound more "American," unaware of how deeply this will sadden their grandparents; a Chinese professor of English attempts to defect with the help of a reluctant former student. In each of these deeply moving, acutely insightful, and often strikingly humorous stories we are reminded again of the storytelling prowess of this superb writer.
"Quiet, careful, restrained prose-prose whose absence of flourish can, at times, make it all the more eloquent."
"In short, the storyteller's art is richly on display here. Ha Jin has a singular talent for snaring a reader. His premises are gripping, his emotional bedrock hard and true…captivating."
"This may be Ha Jin's best work yet, his stories often ascending to the mystical penumbra we expect of Singer, Malamud, or O'Connor."
"[Jin] is a master of the straightforward line; he makes the most of his sparseness…no-frills sentences about Chinese immigrants who lead no-frills lives in New York."
"Jin employs a simple, workmanlike style to match the lives of his characters. But instead of feeling flat-footed, his unvarnished prose adds a no-nonsense charm to the stories."
"Ha Jin's masterful storytelling persists-meticulous, droll, convincing, populated with memorable characters-not to mention the indelible portrait of an immigrant life he gives us. What is also consistent is his prowess to study and reveal, often with heartfelt humor, the compromised and damaged heart and soul and the impact of time and history on ordinary people."
"National Book Award–winner Ha Jin continues his intimate, up-close look at Chinese immigrant life in A Good Fall with twelve stories…all artfully turned out in Jin's quietly seismic style."
"A collection of sublime moments…Perhaps Jin's point is that despite all the suffering and turmoil involved in living in America, the strong may triumph here after all. It's a message worth hearing these days."
"His best work so far, this collection includes immortal stories of the immigrant experience, comparable to the best of Malamud and Singer."
"In this new collection of stories, former Emory University professor Ha Jin reflects on the life of Chinese immigrants in America, crafting each fleeting portrait with a spare precision and attention to detail uncanny for a relative newcomer to the English language."
"Everyone in A Good Fall struggles with past and present, and Ha Jin requires dynamic change of them all…these understated clashes of culture reveal careful thematic design and provide an almost 360-degree view of this select human experience: The concerns of people everywhere trying to make a better life come alive, one deceptively simple story at a time."
"Included [here] are the rich imagery, attention to detail and wry humor that are Jin's stock in trade and that, when taken together, offer-as fellow writer Francine Prose has noted-'a compelling exploration of the…terrain that is the human heart.'"
"The author, whose novel Waiting won the National Book Award in 1999, writes with warmth and humor about what it means to be a bewildered stranger in a strange land, no matter where one is born."
"With startling clarity, Jin explores the challenges, loneliness and uplift associated with discovering one's place in America…With piercing insight, Jin paints a vast, fascinating portrait of a neighborhood and a people in flux.
A lonely composer takes comfort in the songs of his girlfriend's parakeet; a group of young children declare their wish to change their names so that they might sound more "American," unaware of how deeply this will sadden their grandparents; a Chinese professor of English attempts to defect with the help of a reluctant former student. In each of these deeply moving, acutely insightful, and often strikingly humorous stories we are reminded again of the storytelling prowess of this superb writer.
"Quiet, careful, restrained prose-prose whose absence of flourish can, at times, make it all the more eloquent."
"In short, the storyteller's art is richly on display here. Ha Jin has a singular talent for snaring a reader. His premises are gripping, his emotional bedrock hard and true…captivating."
"This may be Ha Jin's best work yet, his stories often ascending to the mystical penumbra we expect of Singer, Malamud, or O'Connor."
"[Jin] is a master of the straightforward line; he makes the most of his sparseness…no-frills sentences about Chinese immigrants who lead no-frills lives in New York."
"Jin employs a simple, workmanlike style to match the lives of his characters. But instead of feeling flat-footed, his unvarnished prose adds a no-nonsense charm to the stories."
"Ha Jin's masterful storytelling persists-meticulous, droll, convincing, populated with memorable characters-not to mention the indelible portrait of an immigrant life he gives us. What is also consistent is his prowess to study and reveal, often with heartfelt humor, the compromised and damaged heart and soul and the impact of time and history on ordinary people."
"National Book Award–winner Ha Jin continues his intimate, up-close look at Chinese immigrant life in A Good Fall with twelve stories…all artfully turned out in Jin's quietly seismic style."
"A collection of sublime moments…Perhaps Jin's point is that despite all the suffering and turmoil involved in living in America, the strong may triumph here after all. It's a message worth hearing these days."
"His best work so far, this collection includes immortal stories of the immigrant experience, comparable to the best of Malamud and Singer."
"In this new collection of stories, former Emory University professor Ha Jin reflects on the life of Chinese immigrants in America, crafting each fleeting portrait with a spare precision and attention to detail uncanny for a relative newcomer to the English language."
"Everyone in A Good Fall struggles with past and present, and Ha Jin requires dynamic change of them all…these understated clashes of culture reveal careful thematic design and provide an almost 360-degree view of this select human experience: The concerns of people everywhere trying to make a better life come alive, one deceptively simple story at a time."
"Included [here] are the rich imagery, attention to detail and wry humor that are Jin's stock in trade and that, when taken together, offer-as fellow writer Francine Prose has noted-'a compelling exploration of the…terrain that is the human heart.'"
"The author, whose novel Waiting won the National Book Award in 1999, writes with warmth and humor about what it means to be a bewildered stranger in a strange land, no matter where one is born."
"With startling clarity, Jin explores the challenges, loneliness and uplift associated with discovering one's place in America…With piercing insight, Jin paints a vast, fascinating portrait of a neighborhood and a people in flux.