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World and Town
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World and Town Hardback - 2010

by Gish Jen

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Reader reviews for World and Town

From the publisher

From the much-loved author of "Who's Irish?" and "The Love Wife, " a world-sized novel set in a small New England town.
Hattie Kong--the spirited offspring of a descendant of Confucius and an American missionary to China--has, in her fiftieth year of living in the United States, lost both her husband and her best friend to cancer. It is an utterly devastating loss, of course, and also heartbreakingly absurd: a little, she thinks, "like having twins. She got to book the same church with the same pianist for both funerals and did think she should have gotten some sort of twofer from the crematorium."
But now, two years later, it is time for Hattie to start over. She moves to the town of Riverlake, where she is soon joined by an immigrant Cambodian family on the run from their inner-city troubles, as well as--quite unexpectedly--by a just-retired neuroscientist ex-lover named Carter Hatch. All of them are, like Hattie, looking for a new start in a town that might once have represented the rock-solid base of American life but that is itself challenged, in 2001, by cell-phone towers and chain stores, struggling family farms and fundamentalist Christians.
What Hattie makes of this situation is at the center of a novel that asks deep and absorbing questions about religion, home, America, what neighbors are, what love is, and, in the largest sense, what "worlds" we make of the world.
Moving, humorous, compassionate, and expansive, "World and Town" is as rich in character as it is brilliantly evocative of its time and place. This is a truly masterful novel--enthralling, essential, and satisfying.

Details

  • Title World and Town
  • Author Gish Jen
  • Binding Hardback
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 386
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Knopf Publishing Group, NY
  • Publication date 2010-10-05
  • ISBN 9780307272195 / 0307272192
  • Weight 1.58 lbs (0.72 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.74 x 6.58 x 1.23 in (24.74 x 16.71 x 3.12 cm)
  • Category Fiction - General
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2010007057
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Media reviews

 
“Gish Jen’s triumph of a novel World and Town starts with all the energy of a runaway train—or actually, a runaway trailer. Jump on.   You’ll enjoy the ride. . . . What interests the author is how we interpret family, culture and home. . . . From family plots to subplots, Jen orchestrates everything.   In fact, there's something symphonic about the novel itself . . . her richest, warmest work yet.” –Ellen Kanner, The Miami Herald
 

“What a pleasure to read this smart, warm novel from Gish Jen [which] manages in its amiable, unhurried way, to consider the challenges of immigration, the limits of scientific rationalism, and the sins of fundamentalism. Yes, it’s a heavy load for such a buoyant story to carry, but Jen knows how to create thoughtful characters who can talk and think about complex issues without making us take notes.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“One of Jen’s greatest strengths is her fluid point of view, which she employs beautifully here, alternating perspectives . . . Nothing is fixed for these unsettled characters, who keep trying to build new lives in a bewildering world, and whose victories, when they come, bring not rapture but a ‘defining grace, bittersweet and hard-won.’”
—Donna Rifkind, The New York Times Book Review
 
“A powerful message . . . A novel not about being, but becoming, American, which to some extent means the same thing. . .  Jen’s prose is dense, minutely descriptive and often arresting .” —Malena Watrous, The San Francisco Chronicle  
 
“A beautifully written novel of wit and insight and great generosity. Jen’s novels do not come along often, so this is not one to miss.” —Claire Hopley, The Washington Times
 
“Jen knows the rhythm of life in a small town, where swirls of gossip can set events in motion, and personal history exerts a stronger force than anything that happens in the wider world . . . She’s generous to her characters, even the violent or larcenous ones. Her bighearted, rumpled novel gives them room to change directions and find new ways to live together.” –Margaret Quamme, The Columbus Dispatch
 
“In this thick, satisfactory sprawl of a read . . . Jen gracefully introduces some of the great issues of or time: how the shock of 9/11 reverberated from city to town; how lost souls can cling meanly to fundamentalism; how it feels when a chain store bulldozes into a mom-and-pop community, or a family farm finally collapses . . . When she slides into the voice of a 15-year-old Cambodian girl or the bitter old-timer angry over the loss of his farm and wife, World and Town practically sings.” —Karen Valby, Entertainment Weekly
 
World and Town is lavish with acutely drawn incidents and characters . . . An imaginatively questioning and shrewdly written novel of our times.” —Richard Eder, The Boston Globe
 
“Jen is masterful at mixing keen observation with wit and wisdom . . . In her latest, she is at her best, diving into the pain and promise of coming to America.” —Amy Scribner, Bookpage
 
“[Jen’s] ability to inhabit varied minds and hearts without drawing attention to her efforts evokes the compassionate omniscience of George Eliot.” —Carlene Bauer, Whole Living
 
“Jen’s sensitivity and charming humor should vault this to the top of book groups’ must reads.” —Beth E. Anderson, Library Journal
 
“Unique, dense, enthralling . . . Jen unwinds another expansive story of identity and acceptance, deploying voices that are as haunting and revealing as they are original.”  —Publishers Weekly, starred review and Pick of the Week
 
“Sharply funny and wisely compassionate, Jen’s richly stippled novel slyly questions every assumption about existence and meaning even as it celebrates generosity, friendship, and love.”  —Donna Seaman, Booklist, starred review
 

About the author

Gish Jen is the author of three previous novels and a book of stories. Her honors include the Lannan Literary Award for fiction and the Mildred and Harold Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives with her husband and two children in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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World and Town
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World and Town

by Jen, Gish

  • Used
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  • Paperback
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Excellent
Edition
Advance Reading Copy
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Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780307272195 / 0307272192
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NY: Knopf, 2010. Advance Reading Copy . Soft cover. Fine/No Jacket, as Issued. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Covers sl edgeworn, sm crease in upper corner. Contents as new, clean & tight. 1116fc
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World and Town
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World and Town

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Knopf. Used - Good. FORMER LIBRARY COPY. Former Library book. hardcover 100% of proceeds go to charity! Good condition with all pages in tact. Item shows signs of use and may have cosmetic defects.
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World and Town
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World and Town

by Jen, Gish

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Knopf, 10/5/2010 12:00:01 A. hardcover. Good. 1.4000 in x 9.3000 in x 6.2000 in. Used books may not include access codes or one time use codes. Proven Seller with Excellent Customer Service. Choose expedited shipping and get it FAST.
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World and Town
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World and Town

by Jen, Gish

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780307272195 / 0307272192
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Knopf. Used - Very Good. Very Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner’s name, short gifter’s inscription or light stamp.
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World and Town
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World and Town

by Jen, Gish

  • Used
Condition
Used
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780307272195 / 0307272192
Quantity available
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Description:
Knopf. Used - Good. Good condition. Good dust jacket. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
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World and Town
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World and Town

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Knopf. First Edition. Very Good. With dust jacket. It's a well-cared-for item that has seen limited use. The item may show minor signs of wear. All the text is legible, with all pages included. It may have slight markings and/or highlighting.
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World and Town
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World and Town

by Jen, Gish

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780307272195 / 0307272192
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Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Used - Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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World and Town
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World and Town

by Jen, Gish

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Used
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780307272195 / 0307272192
Quantity available
1
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Item price
A$11.36
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Description:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Used - Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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World and Town
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World and Town

by Jen, Gish

  • Used
Condition
Used
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780307272195 / 0307272192
Quantity available
1
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Item price
A$11.36
Free Delivery to USA

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Description:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Used - Good. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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World and Town

World and Town

by Gish Jen

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  • Hardback
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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780307272195 / 0307272192
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Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010. Hardcover. Very Good. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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