World Famous Love Acts - Softcover

Leung, Brian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1889330167 ISBN 13: 9781889330167

Publisher: Sarabande Books, 2004

Synopsis

"An entire book of good stories. . . . [Leung] gains trust the old-fashioned way—through confidence, craftsmanship and compassion. There are no shortcuts here, no tricks or gimmicks, no glib patinas to conceal weak underpinnings. . . . This is a book about loss, twined irrevocably with hope, a hope that surges below the surface of all life. . . . Read [it] and see a bold new writer making himself vulnerable on the page. He gives us all hope."—Chris Offutt

Born to a Chinese father and Euro-American mother, Brian Leung is a native of California, where he is now an assistant professor at California State University, Northridge. He received an M.F.A in creative writing from Indiana University.

About this title

About the Author

Born to a Chinese father and Euro-American mother, Brian Leung is a native of San Diego, California. He received an M.F.A in Creative Writing from Indiana University. His fiction and poetry have appeared in Story, Crazyhorse, Grain, Gulf Coast, Kinesis, Mid-American Review, Salt Hill, Gulf Stream, River City, The Bellingham Review, and The Connecticut Review. He lives in Los Angeles, where he is an Assistant Professor at California State University, Northridge.

From Booklist

If it's possible to be dubbed a "master storyteller" this early in one's career, then Leung's enchanting debut short story collection most assuredly has earned him the title. As diverse as they are similar, Leung's characters and their conditions run the gamut from elderly widower to precocious youngsters, porn star to AIDS victim, serial killer to estranged sisters, and all are lucidly portrayed in prose that is achingly lyrical and elegantly refined. Leung's stories are startling in their depth and intricacy. "Dog Sleep" is an allegory for all the ways we lose love, while "White Hand" traces the loss of cultural heritage through generations of Chinese Americans. "Leases," the most breathtakingly beautiful of the collection, is a poignant examination of an unorthodox marriage. Throughout, Leung creates characters that leave their mark on the reader's psyche, and he does it with a subtle but sure hand. Though their circumstances may be uncommon, Leung's luminous characters shine with their ennobling power to reveal the common thread connecting us all. Carol Haggas
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About this edition

• Publisher: Sarabande Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1889330167
• ISBN 13: 9781889330167
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224