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THE BOOK OF SALT
by Truong, Monique
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- ISBN 10
- 0618304002
- ISBN 13
- 9780618304004
- Seller
-
Santa Monica, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. Near fine book (very slight edgewear at top corners) in near fine dust jacket (not price-clipped but some rubbing to back panel and edges). Unread copy. Focuses on the adventures of the Vietnamese chef of Stein and Toklas. Author was born in Saigon, moved to the U.S. when she was six.. 1st Edition. Hard Cover.
Synopsis
"[He] came to us through an advertisement that I had in desperation put in the newspaper. It began captivatingly for those days: 'Two American ladies wish . . .' " It was these lines in The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book that inspired The Book of Salt, a brilliant first novel by acclaimed Vietnamese American writer Monique Truong. In Paris, in 1934, Bính has accompanied his employers, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, to the train station for their departure to America. His own destination is unclear: will he go with "the Steins," stay in France, or return to his native Vietnam? Bính has fled his homeland in disgrace, leaving behind his malevolent charlatan of a father and his self-sacrificing mother. For five years, he has been the live-in cook at the famous apartment at 27 rue de Fleurus. Before Bính's decision is revealed, his mesmerizing narrative catapults us back to his youth in French-colonized Vietnam, his years as a galley hand at sea, and his days turning out fragrant repasts for the doyennes of the Lost Generation. Bính knows far more than the contents of the Steins' pantry: he knows their routines and intimacies, their manipulations and follies. With wry insight, he views Stein and Toklas ensconced in blissful domesticity. But is Bính's account reliable? A lost soul, he is a late-night habitué of the Paris demimonde, an exile and an alien, a man of musings and memories, and, possibly, lies. Love is the prize that has eluded him, from his family to the men he has sought out in his far-flung journeys, often at his peril. Intricate, compelling, and witty, the novel weaves in historical characters, from Stein and Toklas to Paul Robeson and Ho Chi Minh, with remarkable originality. Flavors, seas, sweat, tears — The Book of Salt is an inspired feast of storytelling riches.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Barbara Bilson Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 002824
- Title
- THE BOOK OF SALT
- Author
- Truong, Monique
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- ISBN 10
- 0618304002
- ISBN 13
- 9780618304004
- Publisher
- Houghton Mifflin
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 2003
- Keywords
- Vietnamese, France, fiction, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas
- Bookseller catalogs
- FICTION; FICTION / Historical;
Terms of Sale
Barbara Bilson Books
We accept PayPal and credit cards through Biblio. POSTAGE: USPS Media Mail (book rate): $5.00 first book, $1.50 each additional book. Priority mail rates vary with distance and weight of book; inquire for rates. Overseas shipments: heavier books may require additional shipping charges; please inquire for rates. DESCRIPTION: We describe conservatively (VF, F, NF, VG, G) following guidelines presented in Firsts magazine. RETURNS accepted for any reason within ten days of receipt; if our description was inaccurate, we will refund postage both ways. EMAIL: We answer email daily.
About the Seller
Barbara Bilson Books
Biblio member since 2005
Santa Monica, California
About Barbara Bilson Books
We have been in the business of connecting appreciative customers with fine used books since 1985. We emphasize accurate descriptions in order to build trust among our customers.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
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