publication of her first novel: Locke 1928. The book will be released
on May 1st ["to celebrate International Workers' Day and honor the
Chinese laborers who gave their lives building the west"].
There are two readings scheduled:
April 24, 7pm at Black Oak Books, Berkeley
May 6, 3:30pm at Time Tested Books, Sacramento
Pre-order now! Deeply discounted on Amazon!
http://www.amazon.com/Locke
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Critical praise for Locke 1928, winner of the 2006 Maurice Prize for Fiction:
"A beautiful debut, Locke 1928 opens up a page in history that
sometimes is forgotten by both cultures that once coexisted in Locke,
a Sacramento Chinese farming town. By mapping out the familiar and the
strange territories of human passion and retelling the old myths,
Shawna Yang Ryan tells a story that, in the end, is about how America
was truly made."
—Yiyun Li, author of A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
"Many stories remain to be told. The delta part of the
California-Asian world still sits there, and Shawna Ryan went into it,
even lived it for a while. Her writing is crafty, sinuous, and strong
with evocative color and smell--she's good on odors-- and on physical
details, both heavy and light. (There is much adult physicality—heavy
drinking, puking—the story goes way into a juicy territory that it is
not so sexual as it is bodily inside and out). Shawna is precise on
society and history and persons. I have a deep respect for this work,
and no doubt as to her powerful future potential."
—Gary Snyder
"In this lyrical debut novel, Shawna Yang Ryan evokes the hard labor,
deep losses, and loving redemptions of Chinese immigrants, those who
loved them, and California itself. A startling, rich, and remarkable
work that echoes long after the book is closed."
—Louis S. Warren, author of Buffalo Bill's America: William Cody and
the Wild West Show
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More info at:
http://www.shawnayangryan.com
[btw angry is not her middle name--it's Shawna Yang Ryan]
