26 Sep / The Fifth Book of Peace by Maxine Hong Kingston [in AsianWeek]
Hong Kingston’s much awaited new book begins with the calamitous fires in the Oakland-Berkeley hills of October 1991 that strike as she is driving home from her father’s funeral – the fires engulf not only countless homes, but take with them the pages of her new novel. Combining that loss with her thoughts over the destruction wrought by the Persian Gulf War, Hong Kingston recreates her lost book and so much more. With Bush’s current “war on terrorism,” Peace could not be more timely: “In a time of destruction, create something,” Hong Kingston implores. “A poem. A parade. A community. A school. A vow. A moral principle. One peaceful moment.”
Review: “New and Notable Books,” AsianWeek, September 26, 2003
Readers: Adult
Published: 2003