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Linh Ly is Doing Just Fine

A Novel

Thao Votang

$65

Hardback

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English
Crooked Lane Books
27 August 2024
Told with deadpan humor and brutal honesty, this debut novel follows Vietnamese American Linh Ly's unraveling as she reckons with the traumas of both her past and present, perfect for fans of Joan Is Okay and Luster.

Told with deadpan humor and brutal honesty, this debut novel follows Vietnamese American Linh Ly's unraveling as she reckons with the traumas of both her past and present, perfect for fans of Joan Is Okay and Luster.

When twenty-seven-year-old Linh Ly's recently divorced mother begins dating a coworker, Linh is determined to make sure he is worthy of her mother. She's seen the kind of men her mother ends up with-she grew up watching her unreliable and volatile alcoholic father as her mother worked two jobs to make ends meet. Linh is certain that her mother can't do this on her own, but what begins as genuine worry quickly turns obsessive.

Following her mother and spying on her dates becomes part of Linh's routine, especially after a university shooting at Linh's work that leaves her feeling adrift-at least her mom's dating life gives her something to focus on. Linh doesn't exactly have a life of her own (dating or otherwise) and figures the best course of action is action-not how she handled the shooting- curl up in a ball and wait it out.

Linh is slowly forced to reconcile the image of her mother from her childhood with the woman she's getting to know as an adult. Growing up Vietnamese in the middle of Texas with a broken household taught Linh a certain guarded way of living-one she never quite left behind.

Moving, insightful, and caustically funny all at once, Linh Ly Is Doing Just Fine depicts a quarter-life crisis in deeply relatable prose.
By:  
Imprint:   Crooked Lane Books
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 220mm,  Width: 146mm, 
Weight:   369g
ISBN:   9781639107896
ISBN 10:   1639107894
Pages:   272
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Thao Votang's work has been published in Salon, Hyperallergic, Sightlines, Southwest Contemporary, and Lucky Jefferson. She coedited Conflict of Interest, an arts and lit publication, and cofounded the Tiny Park arts space. When she's not looking at art, she can be found reading one of the many books she has put in her bag or hidden under that couch cushion. Her fiction is informed by her experience as part of the Vietnamese diaspora deep in the lone star state, her interest in how we love our mothers, and the climate catastrophe.

Reviews for Linh Ly is Doing Just Fine: A Novel

Praise for Linh Ly Is Doing Just Fine: “A brilliant tribute to the struggles of navigating one’s changing circumstances . . . This homage to Vietnamese American culture by a debut author is a treasure and a beautiful read.” —Booklist “Deeply moving, extremely thought-provoking, and it establishes Thao Votang as a new, respectable voice in a vein of America’s literary canon.” —Southern Review of Books “Told in equally honest and hilarious prose, Linh’s adventures will have you turning the pages to find out where it will all end up. A remarkable, relatable tale.” —Friends & Fiction


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