A Sensory Life: Andrew Lam interviews Monique Truong

Andrew Lam interviews Monique Truong about her novel Bitter in the Mouth. Listen to the interview here!

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In earlier posts diaCRITICS has featured reviews of Monique Truong’s Bitter in the Mouth by guest authors, Thuy Dinh and Stephen Sohn. The novel is an interesting read about a Southern girl’s childhood and experiences with synethesia, a neurological condition that causes words to produce taste sensations. But here, writers and friends, Andrew Lam, author of Perfume Dreams and East Eats West, and Monique Truong, whose first novel was The Book of Salt, gives us an intimate look at Bitter in the Mouth.

In the New America Now interview, Truong gives us a glimpse into Bitter in the Mouth. She begins by reading a brief passage of the novel in a clear, calm voice.  Then, with questions from Lam, she opens up and converses about Bitter in the Mouth and its personal and creative background. From the intimacy between friends,Truong shares her experiences as a “Southern girl twice over,” being born in South Viet Nam and then relocated to Boiling Springs, North Carolina, as well as her career change from lawyer to novelist. Truong also gives insight into the development of the novel from an interest in synethesia and how she tries to weave in the sensory with the literary.  Moreover, Truong teases us and hints at an interesting turn of events, which diaCRITICS cannot not review.  So pick up Bitter in the Mouth and find out what it is!

Experience the interview and Truong’s reading excerpts of Bitter in the Mouth, here, at New America Media.

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1 COMMENT

  1. The last time I saw Monique Truong was at her father’s funeral in Houston. My wife Tho and I stayed in her mother’s home for several days. My wife of over 30 years is Monique’s aunt, and sister of An whom we called Charles. He lived with us on a ranch near Colorado Springs for nearly a year before he returned to Houston and was found dead getting into his shower. I am an archaeologist specializing in Native American material culture and an art critic. (Google Ralph Oliver Legends in Indian Art, Ralph Oliver Investments in Indian Art.) We have lost Monique’s email during a recent move to a suburb of Sedona, AZ. Any help in getting in contact with Monique would be appreciated.

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