Today's Book Review
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Rock Paper Tiger
368pp. Soho Press.
9781569476406
Possibly it is not a total secret that the Rejectionist has, like, a soft spot for the tough-but-fucked-up lady-heroine! IT IS DEFINITELY NOT BECAUSE WE SEE ELEMENTS OF OURSELF IN THESE FICTIVE REPRESENTATIONS NO IT IS NOT THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Oh, SHUT UP. Anyway! Also very dear to us is the thriller-as-a-vehicle-for-insightful-social-commentary! So you can IMAGINE how much we like insightful thrillers starring tough but fucked-up lady characters! A LOT. That's how much we like them. And GUESS WHAT? They're kind of hard to find (the operative adjective being "insightful," folks)! All of which is to say, we tore through the fantabulous Rock Paper Tiger with RECKLESS ABANDON AND DELIGHT. Ellie Cooper, Rock Paper Tiger's down-and-out heroine, has followed her mildly shady soon-to-be-ex-husband to Beijing after a totally disastrous tour of duty in Iraq. A chance encounter with a mysterious gentleman in the home of her artist-friend Lao Zhang sets off all kinds of catastrophe, and Ellie spends the bulk of the novel's action trying to get away from a frightful assortment of Very Bad Guys, running from Beijing's underworld to the Chinese countryside and back again, with some detours in a complicated online-gaming universe. That right there is an awesome novel, but Lisa Brackmann will not rest with snappy dialogue and thrilling plot twists! No, she also insists on seamlessly interweaving intelligent, provocative, and beautifully handled commentary on capitalism, consumer culture, and the Gulf War, in a Beijing so vividly realized the Rejectionist could practically TASTE THE DUMPLINGS EVERY TIME ELLIE ATE THEM. In all seriousness, however, it is a great relief to read an expat-thriller novel where the setting is never exoticized; China is so real and alive here, as are Ellie's scrappy artist friends and Beijing's underground art world. Ellie herself is never less than entirely lovable; a complex, messed-up protagonist whose saving grace is her ruthless honesty. There is so much to love about this thoughtful and original debut, and we cannot wait to see what Lisa Brackmann comes up with next. Don't tell our mom how badly this book made us want to sell all of our possessions, buy a one-way plane ticket to China, and disappear for the next decade.
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Lola Pants would be traumatized if you left.
And this is the very next book on my TBR list! It's all orange and glowing and smells like goodness.
I have never commented here before (because frankly, I'm a wuss and you scare me just a little), but I lurk like a fiend.
And now you have reviewed the book of one of my besties, and I'm thrilled to my glitter pink toenails that you loved it as much as I do!! YES!!
I send poor Ms. Brackmann emails almost daily telling her to write faster, but she knows me and knows I'm not really a stalker or anything, just slightly (well, a lot) sort of pushy and excitable. Especially by really good writing that made me all antsy, and then I cried because it's that good.
FEMINIST HULK STAND IN BIG GREEN AWE AND WANT TO EAT BOOK FOR BREAKFAST AND ALSO MMMM DUMPLING.
Magnificent review. I too love a tough, fucked-up heroine! They're always interesting to follow.
I can hardly wait to read it myself. It's on my "to do" list - TOMORROW's.
This is not the type of book I generally read. plus, living in Japan, I'm a little prejudiced against China...
But I keep hearing such great things about this book. Maybe I will have to try it on for size.
I had to delete myself above because I sounded like such an idiot. This whole author thing is new and strange to me!
I am honored to be featured amongst the Author Friends here. And I'm happy to serve as a China tour guide to any and all who need dumplings.
Lisa (Brackmann)
Thanks for dropping by, Lisa, and a huge congrats on all the success. If it seems odd to be getting all this attention, that's just 'cause you're keeping it real.
Okay, that's twice now that I've heard how screaming awesome this book is, and so off I go to snap it up. It sounds like exactly the kind of boo that I devour in a day and then go pressure all of my friends to read, just so that we can all talk about the characters like we know them and re-hash the plot while we shamelessly squeal, "I KNOW!" back and forth.
Sigh. Nobody said I was normal ;)
@ OtherLisa: I never put it together! Congrats, dude! Very, very cool.
Very nice review. I'm glad you highlighted it. Ellie is a pretty tough cookie despite being screwed up from Iraq and the X.
I loved the story. I told Lisa that it felt like I had gone to China. The dust, the food, teaching young men how to cuss properly in English, lolol! But even the passages where they go to the temples--there is such a feeling of peace. Lisa is great with invoking atmosphere and putting the reader there.
Can't wait for her story set in Mexico.
If you get a chance, I did a rather lengthy interview with Lisa this past Friday. Fascinating lady that goes along with her fascinating writing.
A good review to be sure, but that's a big, eye-bruising CHUNK OF TEXT. Howsabout some paragraphs, to give our eyes a break? kthxbai
SUCH a coincidence-- I just bought this book today!
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