Eating Chinese Food Naked

by Mei Ng

Book Overview

Mei Ng invents a new kind of heroine in this stunning fiction debut which explores the complex relationship between a mother and daughter, and the daughter's reluctant homecoming to a family she... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671011456
• ISBN13: 9780671011451
• Release Date: November 1998
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Eh.

I liked that the author placed a lot of emphasis on nonverbal communication and the importance of small actions. That said the plot felt really flat and some of the scenes felt kind of disjointed.

Tasty

As someone who has taught this novel in several of my classes, I would like to say that Mei Ng writes with intelligence and wit and pathos. I would rate this up with Fae Ng's BONE as one of the best portrayals of Chinatown life from a young female perspective. Yet whereas BONE achieves its effects through absence and silence, EATING CHINESE FOOD NAKED is full of flesh and longing...Ng writes with passion and daring and a full command of her material. If she manages to stay above the fray of Asian American literary politics and simply keeps writing, I am sure she will go far.

Touching, beautifully written moment in time

I passed over this book several times because of the title, which, to me, conjures up images of "the adventures of a wacky modern girl who is totally embarrassed by her old-school immigrant parents" -- there's a whole genre of books like this.I'm glad I got past the title and read this book, because it's a wonderful, nuanced look at a few months in the life of this troubled family. Ruby is just out of Columbia, and moves back in with her lonely, estranged parents. We see her protectiveness towards her mother, trying to reach her father, her standoffishness towards the boyfriend that she can't stay faithful to. This is a novel of characters rather than plot, and the characters are finely tuned and complex. Ruby resists the role that her boyfriend wants her in; her mother Bell has a quiet strength in her loveless marriage; her father Franklin is trapped by his memories. There is a strong current of sorrow running through this book, because there is no neat resolution to the family's problems. But that is a tribute to the story's artistry: there is no manipulation, no shameless drama or heartstring-pulling, just a story, told simply and eloquently. I found myself wishing the characters were real, and then wishing them well at the book's end.

Looking forward to Ng's next title

Eating Chinese Food Naked contained some unstable prose, having an annoying tendency to wander off in every direction. However, the complex characterization was incredible! Every valley of silence between Bell and Franklin, every touch and glance between Ruby and her mother--it was palpable. Herein, Ng captured the nuances of human relationships. Her insight is not to be overlooked because of an unpolished style. This is her first novel and has yet to grow into its potential. I look forward to her next novel. Eager, interested and, thus far, glowingly impressed.

Eating Chinese Food Naked rocks!

From the moment I started this book, I was there: right beside Ruby when she finds herself back behind the Chinese Hand Laundry after she graduates from college. Ruby is great -- she's tough and sassy and knows her mind, even when she's confused. Mei Ng writes about relationships in a way that will break your heart. No one talks about feelings; it's all in the food, like when her father offers her Hostess apple pies after he's been mean to Ruby's mom and Ruby is torn -- should she eat the pies, thus siding with her father or should she reject them and stay on her mom's side. Her father is crafty; he knows Ruby can't resist Hostess pies. In the end, she squishes them in their package and runs out of the house before she gives in to temptation. Ruby's mom picks out all the best bits of chicken and gives them to Ruby. Ruby feels loved and guilty. This love is stifling almost, and Ruby is miserable (in a laughing at herself kind of way) and trying to figure out how to live like a regular red-blooded American girl. She gets on the subway and goes to Manhattan to look for dates. I love the way Ruby is not interested in commitment with her boyfriend, but in fact more interested in finding a girl to kiss. Mei writes about sexuality in a real way. Sometimes it's not pretty. Anyway, if you haven't read this book yet, I recommend it highly. You'll laugh, you'll cry...