The Book of Salt

This was a very, very excellent first novel. But certainly a first novel. I can't say there are a ton of books with a more interesting premise; Truong takes a historical tidbit, that Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas had a Vietnamese cook while in Paris, and tells the story of his childhood, immigration, and struggle with his identity (he's gay) while caring for the two most famous lesbians of the decade. The best part of Truong's often sensuous writing is her ability to channel Binh's expressive love of food as a medium through which he can express his feelings, as he struggles to connect with other men (who don't share his native tongue) in first French, and then English. The only part I struggled with was Truong's sometimes confusing switches from one era of Binh's life to another. I'm generally pretty good at handling that in literature, and I don't know if the jumpiness was intended to convey both Binh's unease and nod to Stein's famous writing style, but it doesn't quite work with the overall fluidity of the novel. Still, I'd read more of her work, for sure. This is a good book for anyone who loves food, as well.