Dispatches from the Cold: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Finally! An Asian American writer who has other themes!
Review: Finally we get an Asian American writer who doesn't just write about race or ethnicity. Am I the only one getting tired of all that "woe is me" ethnic angst? This guy is writing some good fiction. Not "ethnic fiction" but GOOD fiction.

Rating:
Summary: "Taxi Driver" in New Hampshire?
Review: Reminded me a little of the films of Paul Schrader, with the disaffected, alienated, and angry man brooding at the world. The spin on this novel was the letters and the outside narrator. Well-written, and interesting, but kind of a downer.

Rating:
Summary: A book about the endless downward spiral of race and hatred
Review: The cover says it all. A man spiraling out of control. The book weaves together some of the major issues of our time in a story about relatively simple people: race, hate, adultery, revenge, ambition, and the ravages of lost dreams. Leonard Chang describes the characters as if there's a microscope upon them, until you can tell what they're feeling through his subtle descriptions. An altogether excellent book by an up and coming writer.