Riverhead Books
Memorial: A GMA Book Club Pick (a Novel)
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"No other novel this year captures so gracefully the full palette of America." --The Washington Post
"Wryly funny, gently devastating." --Entertainment Weekly
A funny and profound story about family in all its strange forms, joyful and hard-won vulnerability, becoming who you're supposed to be, and the limits of love. Benson and Mike are two young guys who live together in Houston. Mike is a Japanese American chef at a Mexican restaurant and Benson's a Black day care teacher, and they've been together for a few years--good years--but now they're not sure why they're still a couple. There's the sex, sure, and the meals Mike cooks for Benson, and, well, they love each other. But when Mike finds out his estranged father is dying in Osaka just as his acerbic Japanese mother, Mitsuko, arrives in Texas for a visit, Mike picks up and flies across the world to say goodbye. In Japan he undergoes an extraordinary transformation, discovering the truth about his family and his past. Back home, Mitsuko and Benson are stuck living together as unconventional roommates, an absurd domestic situation that ends up meaning more to each of them than they ever could have predicted. Without Mike's immediate pull, Benson begins to push outwards, realizing he might just know what he wants out of life and have the goods to get it. Both men will change in ways that will either make them stronger together, or fracture everything they've ever known. And just maybe they'll all be okay in the end.
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Book Details
ISBN:
9780593087282
EAN:
9780593087282
Binding:
Paperback
Pages:
384
Authors:
Bryan Washington
Publisher:
Riverhead Books
Published Date: 2021-26-10
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I read it in one go. I prefer Bryan's short stories, I'd read part of this one in The New Yorker and it's more intriguing if you're kept in the dark a bit more.
This writer’s narrative style was a bit stark and too descriptive for me. However as the story unfolds told from two perspective I became engrossed in the characters’ passions and dilemmas. Artfully expressed and richly textured as a complicated love story is always.
I love the way this author paints a story. The book should be read by everyone, and this review is coming from a straight white woman well into middle age. it shows how time brings healing and who we are is a reflection of our unique experiences. This book is a great piece of realistic fiction. Well done!
I want to keep knowing these characters. At the beginning it was nearly tortuous to land in the middle of their relationship. Ben, in particular, was so flat that it was almost not worth it to continue. But then, each man begins to open and one finds oneself being let in, ever so slowly. By the end of the book the writing was breathtaking - or did I miss something at the beginning? And then I really cared what happens to them... you'll just have to read it to know more.
Just finished this one it’s two gay men living in Houston. One is Japanese and the other is African American. It’s like a relationship Grindr pun intended!
