A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN Open Book Award, and winner of the 2020 Giller Prize, this revelatory story collection honors characters struggling to find their bearings far from home, even as they do the necessary grunt work of the world. --Angela So, Electric Literature.
As the daughter of refugees, I\'m able to finally see myself in stories.
Unsentimental yet tender, taut and visceral, How to Pronounce Knife announces Souvankham Thammavongsa as one of the most striking voices of her generation.
And in these stories, they do--brightly, ferociously, unforgettably.
As one of Thammavongsa\'s characters says, All we wanted was to live.
In spare, intimate prose charged with emotional power and a sly wit, she paints an indelible portrait of watchful children, wounded men, and restless women caught between cultures, languages, and values.
Henry Award winner Souvankham Thammavongsa focuses on characters struggling to make a living, illuminating their hopes, disappointments, love affairs, acts of defiance, and above all their pursuit of a place to belong.
In her stunning debut story collection, O.
A mother teaching her daughter the art of worm harvesting.
A housewife learning English from daytime soap operas.
A woman plucking feathers at a chicken processing plant.
A failed boxer painting nails at the local salon.
A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN Open Book Award, and winner of the 2020 Giller Prize, this revelatory story collection honors characters struggling to find their bearings far from home, even as they do the necessary grunt work of the world
