Eating Chinese Food Naked by Mei Ng

The initial disappointment could start with the deceptive title - if your expectations bordered at oriental food-fetish erotica. Then, perhaps doubled if you had braced yourself for an Amy Tan experience (Ref: Joy Luck Club, etc). I take this opportunity to warn you against both expectations, but do give this book a chance if your unrefined literary tastes embark on occasional flirtations with lab rats - it appears to be an (experimental?) acquired taste.

Our protagonist Ruby Lee finds herself broke and jobless one summer, and reluctantly resigned herself to staying with her parents in Queens behind their laundry shop. Her parents accept her prodigal return with unspoken but obvious disppointment while her siblings exhibit a degree of indifference. Now, forced to return to an identity and a family she tried escaping from, she provokes friction and threatens the seeming calmness her family adopted in her absence.

While that might not seem like much of a plot, Mei also weaved into this journey several contemplative bits that I could relate to personally, especially Ruby's frustration and restlessness in being unemployed and temping. Reading certain paragraphs proved to be a test of patience. I sunk into a listless desperation, hating the repetitive rambling and restlessness that almost echoed my own.

I sought brief consolation when Mei sneaked brief respite from the protagonist's narration with insightful monologues and historical recounting from Ruby's parents, siblings, and boyfriend. The struggles and dilemmas are quite common of all relationship dynamics. One worth mentioning