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A review by alittlegreyfish
Bestiary by K-Ming Chang
5.0
I mean this language is devastating. Just read it. What a stunning blend of magic realism, immigrant history, unreliable narrator, a female coming of age story, tracing stories through multiple generations, folklore, just wow. I'm going to need a minute so just enjoy some quotes. This is definitely the right book to kick off 2021.
When the doctor asked if we have a history of heart disease, my mother said, “No we have no history, just stories, a long record of surviving our countries.”
I see the way you wear your hands without worry, but someday they’ll bury something. Someday this story will open like a switchblade. Your hands will plot their own holes, and when they do, I won’t come and rescue you.
In the dark, I watched the geography of her face rearrange the mountain range of moles on her forehead, the hook of her lip lowering when she fished up a story.
When the doctor asked if we have a history of heart disease, my mother said, “No we have no history, just stories, a long record of surviving our countries.”
I see the way you wear your hands without worry, but someday they’ll bury something. Someday this story will open like a switchblade. Your hands will plot their own holes, and when they do, I won’t come and rescue you.
In the dark, I watched the geography of her face rearrange the mountain range of moles on her forehead, the hook of her lip lowering when she fished up a story.