Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong
Combining the pithy observation of Dept. of Speculation and the broken-hearted compassion of All My Puny Sorrows:an original, funny and tender novel, published by Scribner, about a family dealing with dementia.
'Brilliant disquisition on family, relationships and adulthood, told in prose that is so startling in its spare beauty that I found mysef thinking about Khong's turns of phrase for days after I finished reading' -- Doree Shafrir, New York Review of Books
‘A deceptively complex tale of dementia and its impact on a family… Like a chain of fairy lights in the darkness, with Khong displaying a deep understanding of the way in which memory humanises and connects us individually communally – and without which all becomes chaos’ -- Catherine Taylor, Financial Times
'Mostly this sweet-natured novel is about Ruth’s attempts to come to terms with a past her father can no longer remember while still attending to the quirky, fleeting joys of the present. 'Here I am, in lieu of you,' she writes, 'collecting the moments.' -- Sam Sacks, ‘Best New Fiction, Wall Street Journal
‘Rachel Khong’s Goodbye, Vitamin is the best of these debuts, conversational and light in tone, but heartbreakingly clear-eyed as well … Khong manages to imbue seemingly mundane topics with charm and pathos through her attentive, humorous and personable writing’ * Spectator *
'A beautifully written coming-of-age debut, dreamy and funny . . . flawless’ * Independent *
‘There’s beauty, humour and absurdity in even the most tragic situation as Rachel Khong demonstrates in Goodbye, Vitamin’ * Good Housekeeping *
‘Funny and tragic, heart-breaking and life-affirming, it reminds you that in the end, that’s all there is – countless passing moments’ * Grazia *
‘A tragi-comic story about holding a family together when life wants to break them apart and finding yourself when you thought you were completely lost. I absolutely loved this book’ * RED *
‘Nuanced exploration of family love and remembrance…A contemporary take on the coming-of-age tale…It’s sweet without being saccharine, and moving without feeling depressed.’ * Refinery29 *
‘A deft, funny and very moving account of all kinds of loss’ * The Big Issue *
'Mostly this sweet-natured novel is about Ruth’s attempts to come to terms with a past her father can no longer remember while still attending to the quirky, fleeting joys of the present. 'Here I am, in lieu of you,' she writes, 'collecting the moments.' -- Sam Sacks, ‘Best New Fiction, Wall Street Journal
'Khong dots the narrative with beautiful quotidian details, often gustatory: jellyfish lovingly prepared to stave off dementia, secrets told over a shared pomegranate. The novel's opening sentence – 'Tonight a man found Dad's pants in a tree lit with Christmas lights' – encapsulates much of its magical, visual approach, which is micro in detail but universal in scaope' * New Yorker *
‘A deceptively complex tale of dementia and its impact on a family… Like a chain of fairy lights in the darkness, with Khong displaying a deep understanding of the way in which memory humanises and connects us individually communally – and without which all becomes chaos’ -- Catherine Taylor, Financial Times
'Mostly this sweet-natured novel is about Ruth’s attempts to come to terms with a past her father can no longer remember while still attending to the quirky, fleeting joys of the present. 'Here I am, in lieu of you,' she writes, 'collecting the moments.' -- Sam Sacks, ‘Best New Fiction, Wall Street Journal
‘Rachel Khong’s Goodbye, Vitamin is the best of these debuts, conversational and light in tone, but heartbreakingly clear-eyed as well … Khong manages to imbue seemingly mundane topics with charm and pathos through her attentive, humorous and personable writing’ * Spectator *
'A beautifully written coming-of-age debut, dreamy and funny . . . flawless’ * Independent *
‘There’s beauty, humour and absurdity in even the most tragic situation as Rachel Khong demonstrates in Goodbye, Vitamin’ * Good Housekeeping *
‘Funny and tragic, heart-breaking and life-affirming, it reminds you that in the end, that’s all there is – countless passing moments’ * Grazia *
‘A tragi-comic story about holding a family together when life wants to break them apart and finding yourself when you thought you were completely lost. I absolutely loved this book’ * RED *
‘Nuanced exploration of family love and remembrance…A contemporary take on the coming-of-age tale…It’s sweet without being saccharine, and moving without feeling depressed.’ * Refinery29 *
‘A deft, funny and very moving account of all kinds of loss’ * The Big Issue *
'Mostly this sweet-natured novel is about Ruth’s attempts to come to terms with a past her father can no longer remember while still attending to the quirky, fleeting joys of the present. 'Here I am, in lieu of you,' she writes, 'collecting the moments.' -- Sam Sacks, ‘Best New Fiction, Wall Street Journal
'Khong dots the narrative with beautiful quotidian details, often gustatory: jellyfish lovingly prepared to stave off dementia, secrets told over a shared pomegranate. The novel's opening sentence – 'Tonight a man found Dad's pants in a tree lit with Christmas lights' – encapsulates much of its magical, visual approach, which is micro in detail but universal in scaope' * New Yorker *
Rachel Khong studied at Yale and the University of Florida. Her fiction and non-fiction has appeared in American Short Fiction, The Believer, Pitchfork and Village Voice. In 2013, she was named one of Refinery29's 30 under 30. Goodbye, Vitamin is her first novel.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781471147241 |
| ISBN 10 | 147114724X |
| Title | Goodbye, Vitamin |
| Author | Rachel Khong |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster Ltd |
| Year published | 2018-05-17 |
| Number of pages | 208 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |