Book Club: Brunch and Discussion with the author of “The Book of Salt” Monique Truong

Event time: 
Saturday, June 29, 2019 - 11:00am to 1:00pm
Location: 
Founders Hall (FND ), Yale Office of LGBTQ Resources See map
135 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Event description: 

Presented by Asian Network at Yale partnered with the Yale LGBTQ and Working Women’s Network Affinity Groups – You’re invited to read and discuss “The Book of Salt” a novel written by Yale alum Monique Truong. Join us for brunch and discussion with the author!

“Intricate, compelling, and witty, the novel weaves in historical characters, from [Gertrude] Stein and [Alice B.] Toklas to Paul Robeson and Ho Chi Minh, with remarkable originality. Flavors, seas, sweat, tears – The Book of Salt is an inspired feast of storytelling riches” (Houghton Mifflin Company).

Bình, as he calls himself, is an exile from his homeland, where he was denounced because of a homosexual relationship and banished by his father. After three years at sea, Bình ends up in Paris, where he answers Toklas’s ad (“Two American ladies wish…”) and enters the household of Gertrude Stein. Considering whether Bình will accompany his employers, Stein and Toklas, to America, a personal cook remembers his youth in French-colonized Vietnam, his years as a galley hand at sea, and his days cooking for the doyennes of the Lost Generation.

Born in Saigon, South Vietnam, Monique Truong came to the U.S. as a refugee in 1975. She is a writer based now in Brooklyn. Her novels are The Sweetest Fruits (Viking Books, 2019), Bitter in the Mouth (Random House, 2010), and The Book of Salt (Houghton Mifflin, 2003). She is also an essayist and librettist, working in collaboration with the composer Joan La Barbara.

Those who register by this Friday, June 14th, will be entered in a drawing to win a free copy of the book. 5 participants will be awarded with a copy of “The Book of Salt” by Monique Truong. Register today!