Jean Kwok
Hardcover | Pages: 384 pages Rating: 3.73 | 4132 Users | 662 Reviews
Present Epithetical Books Mambo in Chinatown
| Title | : | Mambo in Chinatown |
| Author | : | Jean Kwok |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 384 pages |
| Published | : | June 24th 2014 by Riverhead Books (first published June 1st 2014) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Contemporary. Romance. Cultural. China. Womens Fiction. Chick Lit |
Interpretation In Favor Of Books Mambo in Chinatown
From the bestselling author of Girl in Translation, a novel about a young woman torn between her family duties in Chinatown and her escape into the world of ballroom dancing.Twenty-two-year-old Charlie Wong grew up in New York’s Chinatown, the older daughter of a Beijing ballerina and a noodle maker. Though an ABC (America-born Chinese), Charlie’s entire world has been limited to this small area. Now grown, she lives in the same tiny apartment with her widower father and her eleven-year-old sister, and works—miserably—as a dishwasher.
But when she lands a job as a receptionist at a ballroom dance studio, Charlie gains access to a world she hardly knew existed, and everything she once took to be certain turns upside down. Gradually, at the dance studio, awkward Charlie’s natural talents begin to emerge. With them, her perspective, expectations, and sense of self are transformed—something she must take great pains to hide from her father and his suspicion of all things Western. As Charlie blossoms, though, her sister becomes chronically ill. As Pa insists on treating his ailing child exclusively with Eastern practices to no avail, Charlie is forced to try to reconcile her two selves and her two worlds—Eastern and Western, old world and new—to rescue her little sister without sacrificing her newfound confidence and identity.
Itemize Books As Mambo in Chinatown
| Original Title: | Mambo in Chinatown |
| ISBN: | 1594632006 (ISBN13: 9781594632006) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating Epithetical Books Mambo in Chinatown
Ratings: 3.73 From 4132 Users | 662 ReviewsCommentary Epithetical Books Mambo in Chinatown
What an excellent book about growing up between cultures. Charlie navigates the space between what she desires -- a career and future in dance and pursuing the freedoms she has as an American born Chinese -- and what her cultural heritage and traditions say she should/should want to do. The modern vs. traditional thread pulls through every aspect of this book and it's done with reverence toward both. This is a book about dance and passion, about finding yourself and cultivating relationshipsI usually avoid the romance genre, but this book has a lot more than just romance. It's the story of a woman who grew up in Chinatown and is now trying to use her resourceful life skills to save her sister from a sudden illness, at the same time trying to hide her secret career from her father.
Kwok is back with her second book and it is as good as her first one. Dealing with the issues of family and change against the backdrop of being an American Born Chinese, our heroine, Charlie, must balance what she is able to do, what is expected of her, and how to be both mother and sister to her middle school aged younger sister with a father who has checked out of life following the death of her mother. Charlie is an untreated dyslexic who finds life is not so bad once she learns that she
I have to say that while I found parts of the story interesting, other parts left me completely underwhelmed. I really wanted to like this one. Initially it grabbed me, and I found myself quickly turning pages. I liked the Chinese culture and I really thought that Charlie was a character that I could root for. Unfortunately, all of the Chinese medical treatment descriptions and her sister Lisa's "mysterious" health condition (which I had figured out way before the author finally decided to
SWEDISH REVIEW Mambo i Chinartown var en härlig överraskning! Jag hade hoppas på en småtrevlig bok, men jag räknade inte alls med att boken skulle vara så fängslade och förtjusande att det var svårt att lägga ifrån sig den. Boken lyckas med att både vara rolig och allvarlig och Charlies förvandling som sker gradvis genom bokens handling är underbar att följa.Men det är kulturkrocken mellan öst och väst som ger boken en special känsla. Jean Kwok har verkligen lyckats med att beskriva problem för
[2.8] I like the premise of this fairytale set in Chinatown and an upper east side dance studio. I didn't mind its predictability but was distracted by the wooden writing and disappointed by the flat characters. I recall enjoying "Girl in Translation" more. Perhaps a sophomore slump for Kwok? Still...the story kept me reading to the end.
Manhattan's Chinatown and two girls, now motherless but living with their father in a very limited area. For me, the most interesting part of this book was the adjustment that the girls had to make in staying true to their culture while harboring dreams that would take them out of it. This happens with the oldest girl, when she gets a job as a receptionist at a ballroom dance studio. Her deceased mother had been a ballerina in Beijing and this job makes her fell closer to her mother. Her father,
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