Category Archives: book reviews

Canton Elegy: Astonishing memoir of Chinese history and a father’s love

Recently I finished reading an advance copy of Canton Elegy by Stephen Jin Nom Lee. It is one of the most beautiful memoirs I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a LOT of memoirs. I wrote about Canton Elegy in April 2012 when I saw … Continue reading

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More on making family stories and genealogy come alive: “Yokohama Yankee”

The story begins at a funeral marking the “fading presence in Yokohama of a family that witnessed Japan’s transformation from a feudal nation ruled by samurai into one of the world’s greatest industrial powers.” Yokohama Yankee: My Family’s Five Generations … Continue reading

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Nora Jo Fades Away: finding laughter and love in an Alzheimer’s memoir

I read Nora Jo Fades Away:  Confessions of a Caregiver several months after my mother died of Alzheimer’s, but I’m just now getting around to writing about it. I was shocked, shocked I tell you by the first few pages. … Continue reading

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