Paperback / softback
May 27, 2021
9781608012015
English
304
8.00 Inches (US)
5.00 Inches (US)
.85 Pounds (US)
$18.95 USD
v2.1 Reference

My Good Son

A Novel

Winner of the University of New Orleans Publishing Lab Prize
Electric Literature, 43 Books By Women of Color to Read in 2021
The Millions, Most Anticipated: The Great First-Half 2021 Book Preview

"As with her previous books, 'Living Treasures' and 'My Old Faithful,' Huang's latest explores the generational push-pull of family life in post-Tiananmen China . . . Mr. Cai remains front and center, always compelling, a man doing everything for his boy, the way a good fathersupposedlyshould." Lysley Tenorio, The New York Times Book Review

"A poignant meditation on fathers and sons, American and Chinese cultures and traditions in the face of modernity, Yang Huang's latest novel is layered, evocative and engaging." Ms., May 2021 Reads for the Rest of Us

There are few things as universal as a parent's love for their childand the heartache that can accompany it.

In MY GOOD SON, award-winning author Yang Huang explores both the deep power and the profound burdens of parental love through the story of Mr. Cai, a tailor in post-Tiananmen China, and his only son Feng. Like many of his generation, Mr. Cai's most fervent desire is for his son to succeed. He manages to get Feng to pass his entrance exams, and turns to an American customer, Jude, to sponsor his studies in the States. This scheme, hatched between the older Chinese man and a handsome gay American ex-pat, exposes readers to the parallels and differences of American and Chinese cultures father-son relationships, familial expectations, sexuality, social mobility, and privilege. Huang's writing abounds with sharp insights and a quiet humor, revealing the complexity of family relationships amidst two rapidly changing cultures.

About the Author

Yang Huang grew up in Yangzhou, China and has lived in the United States since 1990. Her linked story collection, My Old Faithful, won the Juniper Prize for fiction. Her debut novel, Living Treasures, won the Nautilus Book Award silver medal in fiction. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two teenage sons and works for the University of California, Berkeley.

Reviews

 "...the novel's beating heart: what it means to be a good parent or, in Mr. Cai's case, a good Chinese father."

Lesley Tenorio, New York Times Book Review

Endorsements

"Yang Huang weaves her story with great patience and a steady hand. Her compassion for her characters is matched only by her sharp, unrelenting narrative eye, one which draws the reader deeply into the growing complications of Mr. Cai's world. An engrossing and compelling novel."
—Shanthi Sekaran, author of Lucky Boy


"My Good Son is a novel as moving and absorbing as it is thought-provoking. What does it mean to be a good father? At what cost—to his family, the wider society, the child himself—should a devoted father arrange for his son to 'get ahead'? Yang Huang's novel is at once a beautifully specific portrait of one small family in post-Tiananmen China and a morally complex, compassionate exploration of universal themes."
—Elizabeth Graver, author of The End of the Point


"Set in post-Tiananmen China, My Good Son proves, yet again, Yang Huang's gift for weaving poignant family dramas with grand social themes—and thoroughly upending the reader's expectations! I was both riveted and moved from start to finish."
—Elizabeth Evans, author of As Good As Dead
University of New Orleans Press

9781608012015 : my-good-son-huang
Paperback / softback
304 Pages
$18.95 USD

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