📕 How to Pronounce Knife
A collection of short stories that delve into the lives of immigrants, exploring themes of identity, family, and the struggle to find one’s place in a new country.
Recommended by Goodreads, this book captures the complexity of the immigrant experience through poignant, beautifully crafted stories. From an ex-boxer working in a nail salon to children navigating cultural misunderstandings, Thammavongsa’s characters confront the realities of their new lives with resilience and courage. The stories are a testament to the strength found in small moments and the deep connections that can arise from understanding someone’s dislikes.
This collection is a powerful, contemporary reflection on the nuances of belonging and the personal tales that compose the broader immigrant narrative.
About the book
| Author | Souvankham Thammavongsa |
| Year of release | 2020 |
| Genre | ShortStories, Fiction, Contemporary, Literary, Anthologies |
| Pages | 192 |
| Average WPM | 491 |
| Date Started/Finished | 2 to 3-November-2022 |
| Time took | 1.06 Hours |
How I Discovered It
It was a Goodreads suggestion
Top Quotes
To know someone’s dislikes was to be close to them.
Summary + Notes
Paris
- To know someone’s dislikes was to be close to them.
Mani Pedi
Context: This story was about an ex-boxer working in his sisters salon
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“Talk to me like I’m a client. Go on. Ask about my day, the weather, say something nice about me, try to make conversation.” Raymond tried to think of what he could say, but before he could open his mouth his sister reassured him, “Don’t you worry too much about this part. Most of the time they won’t talk to you because they think you don’t know how to speak English, which is fine because it’s exhausting to make conversation. I don’t care about their kids or husbands or boyfriends or what the fuck they’re doing this weekend. If you don’t want to talk to a client because you’re tired or not interested, just turn to me and speak Lao. They’ll think we’re talking about them and that’ll shut them right the fuck up.”
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I’m lucky if I get two or three dollars. It’s because you’re a fucking man, isn’t it? Even in a business I own myself and built up myself, men are still being paid more. And these are women who are doing this. They should know better!” And she’d look on angrily while he counted his tips, which often added up to more than what his sister charged for mani-pedis.
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One day his sister said, “What, you think you got a chance with that Miss Emily there? She’s rich and educated. None of the things we are or are ever gonna be. Don’t you be dreaming big now, little brother. Keep your dreams small. The size of a grain of rice. And cook that shit up and swallow it every night, then shit that fucking thing out in the morning. It ain’t ever gonna happen. If there’s something I know in this life, it’s rich women. And that woman ain’t for you.”
Chick-A-Chee!
- The lunch woman on duty leaned through the crowd around us and said, “Don’t you mean you went trick-or-treating?” We shook our heads. The woman did not know what she was talking about. I looked up at her big, round, intrusive face and said, “No, Missus Furman. We went Chick-A-Chee!”