Book Description
The splendid new novel from the author of Native
Speaker
His remarkable debut novel was called "rapturous" (The
New York Times Book Review), "revelatory" (Vogue),
and "wholly innovative" (Kirkus Reviews). It
was the recipient of six major awards, including the
prestigious Hemingway Foundation/PEN award. Now Chang-rae Lee
has written a powerful and beautifully crafted second novel
that leaves no doubt about the extraordinary depth and range
of his talent.
A Gesture Life is the story of a proper man, an
upstanding citizen who has come to epitomize the decorous
values of his New York suburban town. Courteous, honest,
hardworking, and impenetrable, Franklin Hata, a Japanese man
of Korean birth, is careful never to overstep his boundaries
and to make his neighbors comfortable in his presence. Yet as
his story unfolds, precipitated by the small events
surrounding him, we see his life begin to unravel. Gradually
we learn the mystery that has shaped the core of his being:
his terrible, forbidden love for a young Korean Comfort Woman
when he served as a medic in the Japanese army during World
War II.
In A Gesture Life, Chang-rae Lee leads us with
dazzling control through a taut, suspenseful story about
love, family, and community--and the secrets we harbor. As in
Native Speaker, he writes of the ways outsiders
conform in order to survive and the price they pay for doing
so. It is a haunting, breathtaking display of talent by an
acclaimed young author.
