A Long Stay in a Distant Land

In this funny and inventive novel, the Lums are a death-stalked Chinese-American family living in Orange County, California. Ever since Grandpa Melvin was inspired to join the U.S. Army after watching a Popeye movie and as family lore has it unleashed a relentless rain of steel death upon the Nazis, Lum after Lum has been doomed to an untimely demise, be it by tainted cheeseburger or speeding ice-cream truck. Now young Louis must move back home with his father, Sonny, to prevent him from enacting the revenge he promises. But soon Louis finds himself searching for his long-lost uncle Bo Lum in Hong Kong. As Louis's search progresses, the tragicomic story of three generations of Lums in America is revealed through the eyes of Louis, Sonny, and Grandma Esther.

[A] dazzling debut: poignant, prickly, and deliciously absurd. Booklist