David Wong Louie's

Pangs of Love

David Wong Louie's stories explore the heart of the Asian-American experience. His characters try to defy their sense of separation by forging a connection with a lover or a family or a culture through an act of will or imagination.

In the title story, Mrs Pang, who speaks no English and longs for a Chinese daughter- in-law,is regarded by her American-born son with the same condescension that the culture at large shows towards him. In 'Displacement', Mrs Chow, a wellborn recent immigrant who pretends to speak no English, accepts a menial job as a caretaker for an elderly lady and silently endures her abuse. In 'Birthday', Wallace Wong comes to take his exgirlfriend's young son to a ballgame and is thwarted by the boy's real father, who is jealous of their affection for each other.

'A writer of astonishing talent. His stories are simultaneously hilarious and heartrending' Bharati Mukherjee

'Louie is the furthest from a genre ethnic writer. He is elegant, funny, a touch spooky and he has as fine a hair-trigger control of alienation and absurdity as any of the best of his generation' Los Angeles Times

Winner of the 1991 Los Angeles Times First Fiction Award