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New Books for You to Read
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Reproductions of the Empty Flagpole
Eileen R. Tabios (Marsh Hawk Press)
Unlike most poetry books that are light as feathers, their words and images floating off the page, this one is substantial in every way imaginable. Thick with imagery, subject matter, geography and precise and inspired syntax, Eileen Tabios’ work reminds me of going for a swim in the ocean — a complete envelopment in the currents of poetry. There is beauty, as in “Adultery”: “In the scent of wet earth, the hold of dark leaves clinging to my ankles, the sound of fireflies mating, the thin sliver of a distant moon, there had been no premonition for such blinding light.” But her prose forms also tackle the grim and boding, as in “My Saison Between Baudelaire and Morrison”: “The blood still seeps through the darkened continent you left without succor. The blood still spills. A century later I must reconcile with your grandchildren. They never spill viscious tears. Nor do they satiate. But I lose myself in their indigent beds, lick the drawn shadows beneath their eyes, to goad your hand into mine.” Tabios’ prolific meditations on writing, living and loving in modern times solidifies her role as one of the foremost Filipina American poets of the 21st century. A great read for anyone interested in prose-poetry experimentation.
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Jet Li: A Biography
James Robert Parish (Thunder’s Mouth Press)
From Li Lian-jie’s early life as the youngest child of an overprotective mother in Beijing, to behind-the-scenes secrets from his Hollywood hit The One, this biography is an essential read for any die-hard Jet Li fan. Though Parish — whose other published works include The Hollywood Book of Death — writes in the typical dry, hokey, celebrity bio format, it was fascinating to read how Li became involved in wushu. He was randomly assigned to this sport in summer school at the tender age of 9, and rose quickly in the ranks to become one of China’s top competitors, traveling around the world before the age of 14 and performing in wushu competitions and exhibitions. The early chapters include some interesting stories about Li’s experience as a Chinese national traveling during the last moments of the Cold War. Parish details nearly every movie that Li has made, which makes for somewhat monotonous reading, but the complete Li filmography at the end of the book is a great resource. An intriguing look at the globalization of a movie star.
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Born Confused
Tanuja Desai Hidier (Scholastic Press)
I resisted this book at first. Not another play on the dead horse of the expression “American-born confused desi.” A teen book where the main character resists being Indian and barely knows any Indians even though she lives 20 minutes outside of Manhattan in New Jersey — I don’t believe it. But then Tanuja Desai Hidier sucked me in with her hilarious situations, larger-than-life characters and unsinkable heart. It’s summertime, and in a matter of weeks 17-year-old Dimple Lala gets too drunk, meets a suitable boy, discovers Manhattan’s Bhangra club scene and yells at her (white) best friend for wearing bindis and Indian clothes as a fashion statement. While the setting of this novel is firmly ensconced in upper middle-class suburbia, Hidier doesn’t shy away from drugs, sex and sexuality, and introduces some amazing queer characters that were by far my favorites. In her extensive press notes, Hidier talks about feeling pressure to write a book a few years ago when being Indian was “hot,” which stressed her out because she felt she wasn’t Indian enough. She says it was only when she accepted the complexity of “a viable culture that exists in the spaces between things” that she could really get Born Confused out. All in all, this book reads like a South Asian American version of a Jennifer Love Hewitt movie, and — honestly — I have been waiting for it all my life.
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