Miles from Nowhere Book

A sad, harrowing novel and a bewildering one to rate. Miles from Nowhere follows thirteen-year-old Joon as she navigates the streets of New York. Her father abandoned her and her mother, and her mother suffered from a severe mental illness with no ability to take care of Joon, so Joon left to fend for herself. Joon's adolescent years span a homeless shelter to an escort club to jobs selling cosmetics and then more. Throughout this, Joon suffers from drug addiction and a number of damaging relationships. Miles from Nowhere, while unrelenting in its depiction of Joon's suffering, does move our protagonist toward a quiet space that starts to look something like hope.

Be warned: this book is not for the fragile-hearted. Nami Mun writes in explicit detail about Joon's experiences of assault, substance use, and crime. This book's portrayal of Joon's anguish made me reflect about how much sheer luck determines our life circumstances. She had the awful luck of being born into a family with parents who had no capacity to care for her, so she did her best to fend for herself on the cold, cruel streets of New York. In contrast, I know myself and many others who had enough luck to be born into more privileged families, with parents who could provide steady meals and shelter even if they lacked emotional warmth. Through Joon's narrative, Mun also dispels the model minority myth that Asian Americans do not suffer from physical or mental health issues. Mun includes subtle yet striking anecdotes that highlight the racism Joon and her family have experienced and how those moments accumulated to affect their wellbeing. Mun's prose is bare and stark, perhaps in part to reflect Joon's limited mental space due to her drug use. The narration feels detached, yet simultaneously gripping with phrases of beauty thrown in here and there. I so wanted to know that Joon would be okay.

It's hard to rate this book. I can see how the graphic detail and the relentless suffering would turn readers off. Still, I cared a lot about Joon and appreciated how Mun did not write her as some exceptionally gifted, extremely compassionate, tirelessly hard-working character. Joon is a teenager with awful circumstances with a will to survive and do her best, and like all of us do, she makes some regrettable decisions along the way. I think I understand the detachment of the narrative though I do wonder if I could have felt even more connected to Joon if Mun inserted even a few more passages that let us into her heart more, that addressed her emotions in a more direct way. Still, a moving novel I would love to hear other readers' thoughts on, especially fellow Asian American readers.