Celebrated Vietnamese poet
Nguyá» n Phan Quế Mai shares her first novel in English, an enveloping, multigenerational tale of the Trần family, set against the backdrop of the Viá»t Nam War.
Registration required. Click here to register.
NguyỠn Phan Quế Mai will speak with Karl Marlantes, author of
Deep River,
What Itâs Like to Go to War.
This event is supported by The Seattle Public Library Foundation, author series sponsors the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation, and Seattle City of Literature. Thanks to media sponsor The Seattle Times. The event is presented in partnership with Elliott Bay Book Company. This program will recorded, captioned and posted on The Seattle Public Libraryâs YouTube page after the event.
New in Paperback: âThinking Inside the Boxâ and âThe Mountains Singâ
By Jennifer Krauss
March 5, 2021
THINKING INSIDE THE BOX: Adventures With Crosswords and the Puzzling People Who Canât Live Without Them,
by Adrienne Raphel. (Penguin, 304 pp., $18.) This affectionate analysis of a cultural fixation that in 1924 The Times dismissively compared to âthe temporary madness that made so many people pay enormous prices for mahjong setsâ succeeds â our reviewer, Peter Sagal, argued â because âlike a good crosswordâ it challenges us to âback away from our assumptions,â âthink differentlyâ and âapply ourselves again.â
TYLL,
by Daniel Kehlmann. Translated by Ross Benjamin. (Vintage, 352 pp., $16.95.) Our reviewer, Irina Dumitrescu, called this picaresque fable in which the proverbial trickster Tyll Ulenspiegel tightrope-walks above the brutality of 17th-century Europeâs Thirty Yearsâ War â
Tet Is Full of Traditions, but You Can Have It Your Way
Plenty of rule-bending and innovation has been brought to Vietnamese Lunar New Year feasts as the diaspora has grown.
Bright pickled shallots and crisp scallions balance the richness of suon kho, northern Vietnamese pork ribs that are grilled then braised in a savory caramel sauce.Credit.Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
By Andrea Nguyen
Published Jan. 29, 2021Updated Feb. 1, 2021
Even during the lean years of the late 1970s through the mid-80s, when Vietnam’s economy was strictly controlled by the government, Nguyen Phan Que Mai’s family managed to gracefully celebrate Tet.