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With the addiction memoir frequently trumping the novel for depths of degradation and despair, where can the fiction writer go with such a story? In her first novel, Mun…takes a spare, unsentimental path…Joon's is a familiar story, but it's fresh enough here to catch the reader up in wanting an answer to its familiar question: will hope triumph over heroin?
—The New York Times
Mun's first novel is a 1980s urban odyssey in which Joon-Mee, a 12-year-old Korean-American, leaves her troubled Bronx family for the life of a New York City runaway. The novel follows Joon over six years, as she lives in a homeless shelter, finds work as an underage escort and a streetwalker, succumbs to drug addiction and petty crime, then tries to turn it all around. Along the way we meet a cast of addicts, grifters and homeless people, including Wink, a boisterous but vulnerable young street veteran ("I didn't even know they had boy prostitutes"); Knowledge, a friend who ropes Joon into helping steal her family's Christmas tree; and Benny, a drugged-up orderly and self-destructive love interest. Mun is careful not to lean on the '80s ambience, and Joon's voice, purged of self-pity, sounds clear and strong on every page. Individual scenes, including Joon's first john, her interview with an antagonistic employment counselor and her climactic encounter with a good-hearted former neighbor, are wonderfully written. Unfortunately, the novel's episodic structure prevents Joon's story from building to anything greater than its parts. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.This first novel covers about five years in the life of Korean American teenager Joon. The daughter of Korean immigrants, Joon runs away from home at age 13 after her mother self-destructs when she is abandoned by her husband. The story of Joon's descent into heroin addiction and prostitution on the streets of New York is grim but absolutely authentic. And as Joon witnesses the disintegration of some of her friends, the reader gets the feeling that she will be able to save herself. Three key scenes late in the book provide gripping climaxes of different sorts. One is an extended sequence in which Joon tries to sell Avon door to door to people who are mentally ill. Another is a chilling, drug-induced interlude with a boyfriend who cuts Joon. The last is a desperate encounter at an employment agency, where Joon must decide whether she's ready to stop running. Joon's wish to belong somewhere is reminiscent of the teenage girl's search for a home in Janet Fitch's White Oleander. A haunting debut by an author who made her own journey from runaway to writer; recommended for all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ9/15/08.]
—Evelyn Beck
"[A] searing debut...[Mun] writes with lovely precision, lending a hallucinatory beauty to the bleak world she has created."
-People (four stars, "Pick of the Week")
Teenager Joon leaves a shattered home for a shattering life on New York City's streets. A novel revolving around addiction, exploitation, and desperation could be described with many harrowing terms, but this audiobook holds the word "beautiful" foremost in its grip. Ali Ahn's performance is superb; her delicate voice keeps Joon sweet despite deep character flaws. Mun's prose is often breathtaking as she paints grim portraits of Joon, her cohorts, and the streets themselves. Ahn navigates shifts in time and voice with ease, changing her delivery to accommodate those drifting through Joon's orbit. The subject matter often makes this difficult to listen to, but Mun's artful style and Ahn's sympathetic voice make it more difficult to turn the audiobook off until it is over. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
| BN ID: | 2940171167141 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Recorded Books, LLC |
| Publication date: | 02/27/2009 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
