Talk Thai: A Review
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- Elizabeth Brown
- cheshay [422]
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- Destination: Thailand
- Topics: Culture | People | Literature | Religion
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Talk Thai: The Adventures of Buddhist Boy is a touching, comical, and heartfelt memoir of Ira Sukrungruang's growing up in American culture as the child of immigrant Thai parents. The reader will laugh, cry, and "feel a pang" as he or she encounters Ira's life as "Buddhist Boy" in this whole new world.
Sukrungruang's compelling use of rich sensory details, from savory and spicy Thai cooking to rich Buddhist practices, propels the reader to join his journey. The Sukrungruang family tries to acclimate to American schools, to American beliefs and culture, and finally to securing the American dream, all while holding on to their familiar and beautiful Thai culture, language, and Buddhist faith. The author helps navigate the reader on both a painful and exciting excursion that he or she won't soon forget. Along the way, the reader is able to learn and absorb much about the fascinating and wonderful Thai people as well as the immigrant experience of being caught between two emergent worlds.
Not only is Talk Thai told with exquisite passion and raw honesty, but it is a memoir to which nearly all people can relate: a coming of age story of Ira's letting go of "the boy" to become "the man." Khorb koon, Ira for this wonderful memoir of your incredible adventures as "Buddhist Boy."
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Talk Thai: The Adventures of Buddhist Boy by Ira Sukrungruang (University of Missouri Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-8262-1889-6), is available from Amazon.
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Published on 10/1/10
