Her debut short story collection sour heart, published by lennyrandom house in 2017, has received both the penrobert w. Zhang is a powerful fiction writer who offers an intimate look at girlhood. Praise for sour heart jenny zhang s comingofage tales are coarse and funny, sweet and sour, told in language thats roughhewn yet pulsating with energy. Greta jung, jenny zhang, kim mai guest, nancy wu, emily woo zeller and samantha quan. About the author jenny zhang was born in shanghai and raised in new york.
Her debut shortstory collection, sour heart, follows six chineseamerican immigrant families. Winner of the penbingham prize for debut fiction winner of l. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Its the inaugural publication from the lenny letter imprint and also the most personally impactful collection of stories.
Jenny zhang on writing the secret languages inside your head. Jenny zhang on sour heart, her debut book with lena dunham. Sour heart by jenny zhang overdrive rakuten overdrive. In this debut collection, she conjures the disturbing and often hilarious experience of adolescence through the eyes of chinese american girls growing up in new york city. Jenny zhangs astounding shortstory collection, sour heart, combines ingenious and tightly controlled technical artistry with an unfettered emotional directness that frequently moves. Sep, 2017 jenny zhangs story collection sour heart begins with something you dont see often in fiction. Then come back and read her debut collection because youll now adore her and her stories. Jenny zhang is one of the most exciting and thoroughly original new voices in american fiction, and sour heart is worth every bit of hype. The imprints first title, a debut short story collection by poet jenny zhang called sour heart, publishes august 1 and has been heralded as one of the biggest, buzziest books of 2017. Fuelled by jenny zhang s singular voice and sly humour, sour heart introduces a bright new force in literary fiction. September 1, 2017 guest list jenny zhang shares 3 of her favorite sour bites of culture.
Praise for sour heartjenny zhangs comingofage tales are coarse and funny, sweet and sour, told in language thats roughhewn yet pulsating with energy. Bingham prize for debut fiction a guardian, nylon, buzzfeed, cosmopolitan, vulture and shelf. Like they were a sign of patronage, a sign of having so much money that it had to be squandered on objects with no purpose except to. A young person in a country far, far away has the cojones to immigrate to. Jenny zhangs obscene, beautiful, moving story collection. Aug 14, 2017 jenny zhangs astounding shortstory collection, sour heart, combines ingenious and tightly controlled technical artistry with an unfettered emotional directness that frequently moves. I will never forget the first time i read jenny zhang i was stunned, moved and quite frankly a little jealous this book takes jennys voice to a new level i hope you love sour heart as much as i do lena dunhamcentred on a community of immigrants who have traded their endangered lives as artists in china and taiwan for the constant struggle of life at the poverty line in. Sour heart, a debut collection of short stories from writer jenny zhang orbits around that notion, with each narrative offering a fresh take on the coming of age story, told from the perspectives. Read sour heart pdf stories by jenny zhang lenny a sly debut story collection that conjures the experience of adolescence through the. Aug 30, 2017 jenny zhang is a dang good writer and i had already read a few of her short stories before sour heart was released. In addition to her fiction and poetry, zhangs essays have been published by the new york times, poetry magazine, rookie, and buzzfeed. So if youre hesitant to pick up a short story collection, go read a few online by jenny zhang. Then come back and read her debut collection because youll now adore her. The grotesque loveliness of sour heart the new republic.
The collections organizing theme is familial love that warps a person beyond all recognition. Usa todayone of the knockout fiction debuts of the year. Sour heart by jenny zhang publishers lunch bookateria. Mostly set in various new york apartments decidedly not up to code, these seven tales center on the unique ties that bind immigrant chinese familiesthe usversustheworld relationships that buoy, suffocate, transform, and define the next generation. Aug 01, 2017 zhang is a powerful fiction writer who offers an intimate look at girlhood. Jenny zhangs story collection sour heart begins with something you dont see often in fiction. Jenny zhang is a dang good writer and i had already read a few of her short stories before sour heart was released. Jul 26, 2017 writer and poet jenny zhang on sour heart, a visceral portrait of chineseamerican girls in new york in the 90s. Dec 03, 2017 a darkly funny and intimate rendering of girlhood, sour heart examines what it means to belong to a family, to find your home, leave it, reject it, and return again. Her stories cut across generations and continents, moving from the fraught halls of a public school in flushing, queens, to the tumultuous streets of shanghai, china, during the. Fuelled by jenny zhangs singular voice and sly humour, sour heart introduces a bright new force in literary fiction. Jul 31, 2017 jenny zhang s short story collection sour heart is the first book from lenny, the new literary imprint from lena dunham.
Booktopia sour heart by jenny zhang, 9781408892404. Sour heart by jenny zhang penguin random house audio. Jenny zhang writes fierce, funny, formbusting poetry and articles for the influential online magazine, rookie. Sour heart is a fitting title for jenny zhangs debut collection, whose seven stories offer sharp, unflinching but ultimately charitable portraits of chinese immigrant families in the us. Wise, generous, and just the right amount of gross, this story collection heralds the arrival of a radical and irresistible literary voice. Jenny zhangs astounding shortstory collection, sour heart, combines ingenious and tightly controlled technical artistry with an unfettered emotional directness that frequently moves, within single sentences, from overwhelming beauty to abject pain.
Zhangs beautiful, direct and sometimes scatological poetry and her bangon essays had already won many of us over, but this book will catapult her to. From 2011 to 2014, zhang wrote extensively for rookie. Read sour heart by jenny zhang available from rakuten kobo. Zhangs version of honesty goes way past the familiar, with passages that burst into bold, startling, brilliance.
Its the inaugural publication from the lenny letter imprint and also the most personally impactful collection of stories ive read by someone who looks, sounds, and thinks like me. A frank depiction of poverty and budding sexuality told through interconnected stories narrated by the daughters of chinese immigrants. A sly debut story collection that conjures the experience of adolescence through the eyes of chinese american girls growing up in new york cityfor readers of zadie smith, helen oyeyemi, and junot diaza fresh new voice emerges with the arrival of sour heart, establishing jenny zhang as a frank and subversive interpreter of the immigrant experience in america. This first collection of short stories by zhang, a poet dear jenny, we are all find, 2012, focuses on immigration and the interiority of the teenage experience. One focus of her work is on the chinese american immigrant identity and experience in the united states. Jenny zhang on writing sour heart and growing up in.
Jul 23, 2017 sour heart by jenny zhang is published by bloomsbury. W magazine compelling writing about what it means to be a teenager. W magazine zhang is a powerful fiction writer who offers an intimate look at girlhood. Jenny zhangs short story collection sour heart is a marvel of family, femininity, sexuality, and otherness.
Times art seidenbaum award for first fiction finalist for nypl young lions fiction award finalist for brooklyn public library literary prize. Aug 01, 2017 jenny zhangs astounding shortstory collection, sour heart, combines ingenious and tightly controlled technical artistry with an unfettered emotional directness that frequently moves, within single sentences, from overwhelming beauty to abject pain. Shes also written for places like new york times magazine, the guardian, and jezebel and has two published collections of poetry, hags and dear jenny, we are all find. Jul 05, 2018 we were joined by jenny zhang, the author of one of the most lauded debuts of the last year, the gorgeous and grotesque slate, sour heart. New york compelling writing about what it means to be a teenager. We sat down with jenny to talk about these exceptional tales, being selected for. Sour heart offers a fierce, fresh take on the hell of coming to america the stories in jenny zhangs powerful debut collection center on the violent, sometimes disturbing experiences of. In her book sour heart, jenny zhang arrives as a chinese. Jenny zhang on sour heart, roberto bolano, and the power of. Sour heart offers a fierce, fresh take on the hell of coming to america the stories in jenny zhang s powerful debut collection center on the violent, sometimes disturbing experiences of young.
Aug 10, 2017 sour heart, a debut collection of short stories from writer jenny zhang orbits around that notion, with each narrative offering a fresh take on the coming of age story, told from the perspectives. A bittersweet debut short story collection from the shanghaiborn poet and essayist gives voice to young female narrators. Jenny zhangs short story collection sour heart is the first book from lenny, the new literary imprint from lena dunham. Writer and poet jenny zhang on sour heart, a visceral portrait of chineseamerican girls in new york in the 90s. Praise for sour heart jenny zhangs comingofage tales are coarse and funny, sweet and sour, told in language thats roughhewn yet pulsating with energy. The millions jenny zhang s sour heart is a revelation. Buy the ebook sour heart by jenny zhang online from australias leading online ebook store. She has published a collection of poetry called dear jenny, we are all find and a nonfiction chapbook called hags. Sour heart offers a fierce, fresh take on the hell. Jenny zhang on sour heart, her debut book with lena dunhams.
Praise for sour heart jenny zhang arrives as a chineseamerican voice we havent heard yet. Hilarious and devastating, tender, and mischievous. From mary in the secret garden, to sharon horgans character, donna, in pulling, writer jenny zhang shares some of her favorite sour things from pop culture. She is the author of a poetry collection, dear jenny, we are all find, and a collection of poems and essays, the selected jenny zhang. Jenny zhangs astounding short story collection, sour heart, combines ingenious and tightly controlled technical artistry with an unfettered emotional directness that frequently moves, within single sentences, from overwhelming beauty to abject pain new yorker the writing is vibrant, the smells of the city vivid. Sour heart jenny zhang pdf stories by aszidarrio issuu. A sly debut story collection that conjures the experience of adolescence through the eyes of chinese american girls growing up in new york. Jul 31, 2017 the imprints first title, a debut short story collection by poet jenny zhang called sour heart, publishes august 1 and has been heralded as one of the biggest, buzziest books of 2017. Sour heart ebook by jenny zhang 9781408892398 booktopia. Advance praise for sour heart as i read, i quickly realized that this was something so new and powerful that it would come to shape the worldnot just the literary world, but what we know about reality.
The millions jenny zhangs sour heart is a revelation. A darkly funny and intimate rendering of girlhood, sour heart examines what it means to belong to a family, to find your home, leave it, reject it, and return again. Jenny zhang born 1983 is an american writer, poet, and prolific essayist based in brooklyn, new york. A sly debut story collection that conjures the experience of adolescence through the eyes of chinese american girls growing up in new york cityfor readers of. Sour heart by jenny zhang, 9781408892404, download free ebooks, download free pdf epub ebook. Christina, a young girl from shanghai, struggles to grow up as her parents sacrifice themselves to the dehumanizing humiliations of poverty. Aug 18, 2017 sour heart offers a fierce, fresh take on the hell of coming to america the stories in jenny zhangs powerful debut collection center on the violent, sometimes disturbing experiences of young. A fresh new voice emerges with the arrival of sour heart, establishing jenny zhang as a frank and subversive interpreter of the immigrant experience in america. Sour heart ebook by jenny zhang 9781408892398 rakuten kobo.