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In the Kitchen with a Deadline

2 comments By Alexis Smith

When I have a writing deadline approaching, you'll probably find me in the kitchen. It's horrible, I know, but when I work with a deadline, I tend... Continue »

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A Free Life (Vintage International)

by Ha Jin

ISBN13: 9780307278609
ISBN10: 0307278603
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Synopsis:

From the acclaimed, award-winning author of "Waiting" and "War Trash" comes a new novel that eloquently re-imagines the American immigrant saga. Jin tells the story of the Wu family, as it sets out on a journey through contemporary America in search of a sense of belonging.

About the Author

Ha Jin left his native China in 1985 to attend Brandeis University. He is the author of the internationally bestselling novel Waiting, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the National Book Award, and War Trash, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and was a Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize; the story collections The Bridegroom, which won the Asian American Literary Award, Under the Red Flag, which won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and Ocean of Words, which won the PEN/Hemingway Award; the novels The Crazed and In the Pond; and three books of poetry. His latest novel, A Free Life is his first novel set in the United States. He lives in the Boston area and is a professor of English at Boston University.War Trash, The Crazed, The Bridegroom, Waiting, In the Pond, and Ocean of Words are available in paperback from Vintage Books.

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Average customer rating based on 3 comments:

: AnneW, November 26, 2010 (view all comments by AnneW)
Glimpses of a moment in this book come back to me months after reading. Storytelling at its best, covering a lifetime, so satisfying to read. Exceptional.
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: raymond bednar, January 4, 2010 (view all comments by raymond bednar)
Ha Jin has written a masterpiece in A Free Life. This is an attempt at the Great American Novel, by someone whose first language is not English, but Chinese. He succeeds. I imagine it is autobiographical in parts but he is also describing universal themes experienced by Americans and immigrant born Americans alike. In the last century Thomas Bell wrote an epic novel, Out of the Furnace, where he described the immigrant story of Slovak immigrants. Ha Jin's novel touches on similar themes but he is completely original in the poetry and descriptions of his characters. The book has an appendix of beautiful poetry that is attributed to the main character in the novel, which one can assume is Ha Jin himself. This novel will take the reader on a journey from China to America, back to China and finally back to America. I recommend this novel to everyone.
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: CIM, January 1, 2010 (view all comments by CIM)
Ha Jin's _A Free Life_ is a moving portrait of the hopes, dreams, and perseverance of Chinese immigrants in the US. In a decade where the US experienced many challenges, _A Free Life_ reminded me why immigrants still yearn to live here and it made me a little bit less skeptical about the continuing relevance of the American Dream.
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Product Details

ISBN:: 9780307278609
Author:: Jin, Ha
Publisher:: Vintage International
Subject:: Literary
Subject:: Family life
Subject:: Literature-A to Z
Edition Description:: Trade paper
Series:: Vintage International
Publication Date:: 20090131
Binding:: TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:: General/trade
Language:: English
Pages:: 672
Dimensions:: 8 x 5.15 x 1.19 in 1 lb

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