Dec 27, 2009

A Gesture Life | A Gesture Life

At a glance:

Author: Chang-rae Lee
First Published: 1999
Type of Work: Novel
Time of Work: 1945-1992
Setting: Japan, Burma, and Bedley Run, a fictional small town within commuting distance to New York City
Principal Characters: Franklin Hata, Sunny Hata, Kkutaeh, Corporal Endo, Captain Ono, Mary Burns, Liv Crawford, Renny Banerjee, Officer Como
Genres: Long fiction
Subjects: 1950’s
Locales: Japan

When Chang-rae Lee’s first novel, Native Speaker (1995), won five major literary awards, expectations were high for the next work by this new author. A Gesture Life, while very different from the previous book, does not disappoint the reader and offers a haunting tale of an old man trying to come to terms with the disappointments and tragedies he has experienced in a long life.

Franklin Hata appears to be a well-situated Asian American man living in a tranquil suburb of New York City. The townspeople know him and like him, and the sale of his medical supply store...

[The entire page is 1789 words long]

A Gesture Life | A Gesture Life

At a glance:

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