A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN Open
Book Award, and winner of the 2020 Giller Prize, this revelatory story
collection honors characters struggling to find their bearings far from
home, even as they do the necessary "grunt work of the world." A
failed boxer painting nails at the local salon. A woman plucking
feathers at a chicken processing plant. A housewife learning English
from daytime soap operas. A mother teaching her daughter the art of worm
harvesting. In her stunning debut story collection, O. Henry Award
winner Souvankham Thammavongsa focuses on characters struggling to make
a living, illuminating their hopes, disappointments, love affairs, acts
of defiance, and above all their pursuit of a place to belong. In spare,
intimate prose charged with emotional power and a sly wit, she paints an
indelible portrait of watchful children, wounded men, and restless women
caught between cultures, languages, and values. As one of Thammavongsa's
characters says, "All we wanted was to live." And in these stories, they
do--brightly, ferociously, unforgettably.
Unsentimental yet tender, taut and visceral, How to Pronounce Knife
announces Souvankham Thammavongsa as one of the most striking voices of
her generation.
"As the daughter of refugees, I'm able to finally see myself in
stories." --Angela So, Electric Literature
