Banana Boys
by Terry Woo
ISBN: 9781896332215
Format: Trade Paperback
Size: 5.5" x 8.5"
Subjects:
FIC019000 FICTION / Literary
FIC054000 FICTION / Asian American
Price: $22.95
Publication Date: September 22, 2005
Synopsis:
What is the nature of Banana? To Luke, Dave, Mike, and Sheldon, it’s a curious predicament brought on by upbringing — growing up yellow on the outside, white on the inside. They’re together to pay their last respects to Rick, the one Banana Boy who seemed to have it all, but was found dead in his living room, apparently of suicide.
The tragedy that has reunited the Banana Boys becomes the point from which we are introduced to the intertwined stories of a group of young friends caught in cultural and social limbo. Not really Chinese and not quite Canadian, the Banana Boys stumble through situations, incidents and interactions that ultimately explore the nature of identity and reveal the possibilities each character has within himself.
Peppered with piercing insights and laced with comic anecdotes, Banana Boys provides unforgettable texture to the ordinary — and extraordinary — tribulations of being twenty-something, male, and Asian in Canada.
Shortlisted, 1999 Asian-Canadian Writer’s Workshop Award
Reviews
“The prose is lively and often hilarious, and the pace is as up-to-the-minute as you’d expect … In delineating the banana boys’ families, Woo provides us with the complex history of the Chinese in Canada in microcosm.”
— Vancouver Sun
“Banana Boys is about Canadian-born hosers of Chinese descent and the minute details of their relationships with their loved ones … These are characters I’ve met in real life, but until now, never in the pop media.”
— Rice Paper
“Woo’s perceptions of this subculture of men are self-deprecating, edgy, and triumphant, rendering Banana Boys a must-read for all Asian Americans.”
— Yolk Magazine
“Woo’s characters, with all their quirks, quickly become endearing … they are the kinds of Asians that one can only hope to start seeing in popular culture. God knows that we’re sick and tired of being portrayed as goons and chopsockey heroes.”
— Ubyssey