Love Like Hate

(Paperback)

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Linh Dinh weaves a dysfunctional family saga that doubles as a portrait of Vietnam in the last 50 years. Protagonists Kim Lan and Hoang Long marry in Saigon during the Vietnam War, uniting in a setting that allows Dinh's dark, deadpan humour to flourish. Describing his mushrooming cast of characters in unsentimental and sometimes absurd ways, Dinh embraces contradictions with the surreal exuberance of Matthew Sharpe and the stylistic elan of Italo Calvino.

Reviews

At once caustic and humorous, harshly critical and nostalgic, Dinh's overview of his homeland is unfailingly honest.Booklist

Dinh's abrupt epiphanies mix A.D.D. with Thoreau's economy, Calvino's globe-trotting, and a pungent eroticism reminiscent of Kawabata'sPalm-of-the-Hand Stories.The Village Voice

Linh Dinh is already one of the secret masters of short fiction.Love Like Hateis something like a traditional cross-cultural novel that's been shocked into life by Dinh's uncanny ability to tell us stories we didn't even know we wanted to hear.Ed Park, author ofPersonal Days

Dinh reveals a refreshing sense of utter irreverence and experimental fun. A definite must-read.AsianWeek

"Dinh's abrupt epiphanies mix A.D.D. with Thoreau's economy, Calvino's globe-trotting, and a pungent eroticism reminiscent of Kawabata's Palm-of-the-Hand Stories."Village Voice

Author Bio

A recipient of a Pew Foundation grant, a David T. Wong Fellowship, a Lannan Residency and, most recently, the Asian American Literary Award,LINH DINHwas born in Saigon in 1963 and emigrated to the United States in 1975. An acclaimed and provocative writer of short stories and contemporary fables, he is also the author of several books of poems and a novel,Love Like Hate. Linh has edited the anthologiesNight, Again: Contemporary Fiction from VietnamandThree Vietnamese Poets. His collection of stories,Blood and Soapwas chosen by theVillage Voiceas one of the Best Books of 2004.Linh's nonfiction essays havebeen published regularly atUnz Review,LewRockwell,Intrepid ReportandCounterCurrents,and his blog, Postcards from the End of America (linhdinhphotos.blogspot.com),is followed by thousands of readers. He has also publishedwidely inVietnamese.