Wrack and Ruin Book

After what I thought was a pretty weak first novel (Country of Origin), Don Lee returns to form in this latest book, which features the kinds of over-the-top characters and wacky hijinks that made his short story collection Yellow such an entertaining read. (Lee's sense of humor was noticeably missing in Country of Origin.)

Wrack and Ruin even brings us back Rosarita Bay, California (apparently based on Half Moon Bay) and has inside references to many of the characters and locales from Lee's short stories (a harmless, mildly amusing touch). The novel is fast-paced and for the most part quite enjoyable, building to a reasonably satisfying conclusion. My main criticism is that the writing often feels too self-consciously researched. Lee likes to give the reader lots of little factoids (about brussels sprouts farming, the film production industry, windsurfing, art criticism, etc.), but a lot of times it doesn't really feel like we're in the hands of someone who KNOWS these things--just someone who's read up on them and conducted some interviews.

That said, I breezed through the book and thought it was a pretty good and worthwhile read. Particularly interesting (to me, anyway) were some reflections on the challenges and contradictions facing Asian-American artists of all ilks.