The Saturday Read 'Bitter in the Mouth' by Monique Truong

Home , Anne Hathaway

The Saturday Read: 'Bitter in the Mouth' by Monique Truong - l... http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-book-201008...

Sign In or Sign Up Like 100K Subscribe/Manage Account Place Ad LAT Store Jobs Cars Real Estate Rentals Classifieds Custom Publishing

ENTERTAINMENT

LOCAL U.S. WORLD BUSINESS SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT HEALTH LIVING TRAVEL OPINION DEALS

MOVIES TV MUSIC CELEBRITY ARTS & CULTURE COMPANY TOWN CALENDAR ENVELOPE BOOKS FINDLOCAL

IN THE NEWS: LUCILLE BALL 'RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES' RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS ANNE HATHAWAY BIG SEAN Search

The Saturday Read: 'Bitter in the Mouth' by L.A. Times on Facebook Like 100K

Monique Truong Lucille Ball's 100th birthday marked with look-alike contest The author of 'The Book of Salt' follows a North Carolina girl with an unusual auditory disorder 593 people recommend this. through adolescence into adulthood. U.S. credit rating downgraded by Standard & Poor's 0 Share 100 Comments 1 Recommend 696 people recommend this.

10-year-old Vogue model: Pretty By Diane Leach or pretty weird? [Updated] Special to the Los Angeles Times August 28, 2010

advertisement In "The Writing Life," Annie Dillard advises would-be writers to find their bone, the thing that drives them to write, and to work as closely to that bone as possible. Dillard also instructs writers — with another corporeal metaphor — to work as closely along the nerve as possible.

Vietnamese American writer Monique Truong's bone is the outsider's plight, and her pen is a scalpel, laying perfect words down along that nerve until even the happiest reader understands what it means to forever stand apart from your family and the larger society you inhabit. "Bitter in the Mouth," Truong's second novel, returns to themes she explored in 2003's lovely "The Book of Salt." In both works, longing for the forbidden wrestles with the necessity of adhering to strict social mores. Beneath this is a thickly insulating layer of family secrets threatening to destroy the Hammerick family: Linda; her parents, Thomas and DeAnne; DeAnne's mother, Iris; and Iris' brother, Harper.

Linda Hammerick is different from the other little girls in Boiling Springs, N.C. She is precociously intelligent. Most unusual of all, she possesses auditory-gustatory synesthesia: All words evoke taste, including her name, Lindamint. Truong ADS BY GOOGLE Movies & Television evokes Linda's ability by writing dialogue as Linda hears it: Rent Textbooks And Save Godwalnut, Leoparsnip. The effect can be disconcerting, but it Chegg is #1 in Textbook Rentals! Movie Showtimes ZIP Code GO successfully conveys that most elusive of experiences: living Rent All Textbooks & Save $500+ /Yr inside another's head. Linda craves hearing certain words, like Momchocolatemilk or selfishcornonthecob. Others — www.Chegg.com TV Listings ZIP Code GO

prunescallion, Powellonions, youcannedgreenbeans — make Fast Easy Self Publishing her wince. Get exactly what you need. Watch a Free video and get your free guide outskirtspress.com Only Kellycannedpeaches Powellonions, her dearest friend since childhood, knows about Linda's synesthesia. The girls Tired of Dry Mouth? spend hours together, creating Dolly Parton scrapbooks and, Use TheraBreath Mints to Fight 31 U.S. troops killed in in the manner of best girlfriends, sharing everything. With Bad Breath & Dry Mouth. Shop Afghanistan now Kelly's help, Linda learns to defuse what she calls "the www.TheraBreath.com incomings" — the sensory barrage from words that makes life difficult. Unfortunately, the most successful defusers of incomings are heavy doses of nicotine and, whenever possible, alcohol.

1 of 4 8/6/11 4:51 PM The Saturday Read: 'Bitter in the Mouth' by Monique Truong - l... http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-book-201008...

Few words are free of incomings, or "fire blanks." Dolly Parton's singing fires blanks, as do the lilting 'Potter' stars describe cadences of Linda's great uncle, known as Baby Harper (Babyhoney Harpercelery) to Iris and Linda. angst of final scene Baby Harper loves his great-niece unreservedly, which is more than can be said of DeAnne or Iris.

Iris is the novel's truth-teller, a woman whose sentences are cruelly polished stones lobbed at her granddaughter, who learns early on to smash them right back. DeAnne is horrified in her passive way, but Iris Whatley and Linda Hammerick's strangely hostile relationship bolsters each other. DeAnne is $12,000 diamond ring recoverd in sewer detached. She is the sort of woman who doesn't know what to do with a child, much less one like Linda who's a far cry from the Southern belle. Matters are complicated by DeAnne and Thomas' unhappy marriage, endured in polite, excruciating silence, and Thomas' love for their only daughter.

Thomas is a shadow character in the novel, a short-lived presence whose behaviors foment much of Valencia man kills the family unrest. He will not survive to see any resolution. in-laws, then himself

Baby Harper, a lifelong "confirmed bachelor," is Linda's closest confidante. His homosexuality is an object lesson in neither asking nor telling. Like "The Book of Salt's" Binh, he keeps his love for men carefully hidden; unlike Binh, he will finally, belatedly, live almost openly as his true self. The self-appointed family photographer, Baby Harper takes unconventional images that puzzle, amuse, and ultimately enlighten his great-niece.

64% off a photo session & prints Truong uses North Carolina history as a lodestar about truths and the ways people refashion them. The character of Linda is aware that truth can be as malleable as Silly Putty, only far less amusing to handle. As Linda reaches adolescence and Dolly Parton gives way to MTV, she and Kelly continue their written correspondence from childhood. Only Kelly's letters change; what were once chatty missives morph into daily "Wade Reports." Latest News Most Viewed Most Emailed

Wade (Wadeorangesherbet) is the exceptionally handsome boy who tells Linda jokes at the school bus stop each morning. Wade is handsome, blond, athletic; the formerly overweight, intelligent Kelly diets South Gate bike path stabber sought - L.A. Now herself skinny, trading her intellect for popularity; Linda, recognizing herself as a hopeless case in the 08/06/2011, 12:46 p.m. high school wars, excels academically. But after school, she sneaks over to Wade's house, where the Fullerton police altercation death protested by two engage in everything but intercourse. Wade wants to, but Linda cannot bear the idea — it is one of hundreds - L.A. Now 08/06/2011, 12:20 p.m. many secrets in this novel, one of many secrets she shares with Kelly. Yosemite falls: Body recovered by authorities - L.A. Now 08/06/2011, 12:09 p.m. Linda and Kelly grow up, and with age come adult concerns: what doesn't change is Linda's synesthesia, which is another secret in a life burdened by secrets. Yet Linda never regrets her literal TCA 2011: The promises of Ryan Murphy on sixth sense: indeed, she cannot imagine life without it. What she truly wants is what all children from 'American Horror Story' - L.A. Times - damaged families want: an explanation. The truth. What happened. When Linda finally gets her wish, Entertainment News 08/06/2011, 12:06 p.m. she is utterly changed. To Truong's credit, "Bitter in the Mouth" ends sweetly, though elegiacally. Sunday shows: Ryan, Brown, Adm. McConnell, "Bitter's" end is neither bitter nor sweet, but the perfect combination of both: bittersweet, a word Dean - Top of the Ticket 08/06/2011, 12:00 p.m. requiring no italicized connotation.

Leach is a critic whose reviews have appeared in a variety of publications.

0 Share 100 Comments 1 Recommend

« Previous Story More Entertainment - entertainment, movies, tv, Next Story » music, celebrity, Hollywood - latimes.com

A bit of money TV in a Lone Star madness at AMC state of mind

MORE FROM THE TIMES FROM AROUND THE WEB Move review: 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' Jerry Lewis ousted as MDA telethon host Valencia man fatally shoots his in-laws, then kills himself Five police convicted in post-Katrina shootings Obama supporters already on the attack for 2012 election

2 of 4 8/6/11 4:51 PM The Saturday Read: 'Bitter in the Mouth' by Monique Truong - l... http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-book-201008...

Enjoy 21 of Hollywood's Sexiest Redheads | StyleBistro

5 Surprising Signs of an Unhealthy Heart | Caring.com

Foods that Trigger Rheumatoid Arthritis Flare-Ups | Lifescript.com What's Going On in That Photo from 'Man of Steel'? Or Should We Say 'Man of Steal'? | Moviefone

What's the Saddest Movie Ever Made? Science Knows the Answer | Moviefone

[what's this]

ADS BY GOOGLE Rent Textbooks And Save Chegg is #1 in Textbook Rentals! Rent All Textbooks & Save $500+ /Yr www.Chegg.com

Fast Easy Self Publishing Get exactly what you need. Watch a Free video and get your free guide outskirtspress.com

Tired of Dry Mouth? Use TheraBreath Mints to Fight Bad Breath & Dry Mouth. Shop now www.TheraBreath.com

Comments (1) Add / View comments | Discussion FAQ

ttigani at 1:29 PM August 29, 2010 Thank you for this great review of a beautiful novel! I had the oppportunity to read this pre-publication, and Baby Harper is still dancing in my mind. Fantastic recommendation!

Restaurants » Comments are filtered for language and registration is required. The Times makes no Gaslamp Tavern 868 5th Ave guarantee of comments' factual accuracy. Readers may report inappropriate comments by clicking the Report Abuse link. Here are the full legal terms you agree to by using this Stingaree 454 6th Ave comment form. 1 Pho Noodle & Grill 11897 Foothill Blvd

more stories like this for only $1 a week. Click here to order What Restaurants The Times. Where Hollywood GO

Reader Travel Photos »

Share your photos. We'll publish the best in print and online. Above, rooftops of Fez, Morocco.

Get the Entertainment Newsletter From screen to stage, music to art. See a sample | Sign up

3 of 4 8/6/11 4:51 PM The Saturday Read: 'Bitter in the Mouth' by Monique Truong - l... http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-book-201008...

Photos: Odd destinations More love for Lucille Ball as Reader photos: Home design Paper-thin computers can be Want to live a long time? around the world 100th birthday nears rolled up, stuffed in pocket Choose your genes well

Corrections Horoscopes Media Kit About Us Contact Us Site Map

Burbank Leader Coastline Pilot Daily Pilot Huntington Beach Independent News Press Pasadena Sun Valley Sun KTLA Hoy Los Angeles Times Magazine Baltimore Sun Chicago Tribune Daily Press Hartford Courant Los Angeles Times Orlando Sentinel Sun Sentinel The Morning Call

A Tribune Newspaper website

4 of 4 8/6/11 4:51 PM