The Boat (short story collection)

Last updated
The Boat
The Boat (short stories collection).jpg
LanguageEnglish
Genre Short Stories
Publisher Alfred A. Knopf (US)
Publication date
May 13, 2008
Publication placeAustralia
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages228
ISBN 978-0307268082
OCLC 213382533

The Boat is a 2008 collection of short stories by the Vietnamese-Australian writer Nam Le. [1] [2] It contains seven short stories taking place all over the world, from Colombia and the United States to Vietnam, Tehran, Australia and Hiroshima. It was praised by critics, and the Australian writer of short stories Cate Kennedy said that the collection brought the short story back to the "literary centre stage". [3]

Contents

Reception

Upon release, The Boat was generally well-received. According to Book Marks , the book received "rave" reviews based on 8 critic reviews with 6 being "rave" and 2 being "positive". [4] On Bookmarks Magazine July/Aug 2008 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg (4.0 out of 5) based on critic reviews with the critical summary stating, "With this debut collection, Le has become the new literary darling". [5]

In 2022, The Boat was included on the "Big Jubilee Read" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorrie Moore</span> American fiction writer (born 1957)

Lorrie Moore is an American writer, critic, and essayist. She is best known for her short stories, some of which have won major awards. Since 1984, she has also taught creative writing.

<i>Netherland</i> (novel) Novel by Joseph ONeill

Netherland (2008) is a novel by Joseph O'Neill. It concerns the life of a Dutchman living in New York in the wake of the September 11 attacks who takes up cricket and starts playing at the Staten Island Cricket Club.

<i>Slow Man</i> 2005 novel by J. M. Coetzee

Slow Man is a novel by the South-African writer J.M. Coetzee and concerns a man who must learn to adapt after losing a leg in a road accident. The novel has many varied themes, including the nature of care, the relationship between an author and his characters, and man's drive to leave a legacy. It was Coetzee's first novel since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003. The novel was longlisted for the 2005 Man Booker Prize.

Charlotte Wood is an Australian novelist. The Australian newspaper described Wood as "one of our [Australia's] most original and provocative writers".

Cate Kennedy is an Australian author based in Victoria.

Merlinda Bobis is a contemporary Filipina-Australian writer and academic.

<i>A Golden Age</i> Novel by Tahmima Anam

A Golden Age is the first novel of the Bangladesh-born writer Tahmima Anam. It tells the story of the Bangladesh War of Liberation through the eyes of one family. The novel was awarded the prize for Best First Book in the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2008. It was also shortlisted for the 2007 Guardian First Book Award. The first chapter of the novel appeared in the January 2007 edition of Granta magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Lamming</span> Barbadian novelist, essayist and poet (1927–2022)

George William Lamming OCC was a Barbadian novelist, essayist, and poet. He first won critical acclaim for In the Castle of My Skin, his 1953 debut novel. He also held academic posts, including as a distinguished visiting professor at Duke University and a visiting professor in the Africana Studies Department of Brown University, and lectured extensively worldwide.

<i>The Weather Makers</i> 2005 book by Tim Flannery

The Weather Makers: The History and Future Impact of Climate Change is a 2005 book by Australian scientist Tim Flannery. It discusses climate change, its scientific basis and effects, and potential solutions.

<i>Diary of a Bad Year</i> 2007 book by J. M. Coetzee

Diary of a Bad Year is a book by South African-born Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee. It was released by Text Publishing in Australia on 3 September 2007, in the United Kingdom by Harvill Secker on 6 September, and in the United States on 27 December.

Adrienne Kennedy is an American playwright. She is best known for Funnyhouse of a Negro, which premiered in 1964 and won an Obie Award. She won a lifetime Obie as well. In 2018 she was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nam Le</span> Vietnamese-born Australian writer (born 1978)

Nam Le is a Vietnamese-born Australian writer, who won the Dylan Thomas Prize for his book The Boat, a collection of short stories. His stories have been published in many places including Best Australian Stories 2007, Best New American Voices, Zoetrope: All-Story, A Public Space and One Story. In 2008 he was named a 5 under 35 honoree by the National Book Foundation.

<i>Small Island</i> (novel) 2004 novel by British author Andrea Levy

Small Island is a novel written by British author Andrea Levy.

Richard Weston Burgin was an American fiction writer, editor, composer, critic, and academic. He published nineteen books, and from 1996 through 2013 was a professor of Communications and English at Saint Louis University. He was also the founder and publisher of the internationally distributed award-winning literary magazine Boulevard.

<i>The Empty Family</i> 2010 collection of short stories by Colm Tóibín

The Empty Family is a collection of short stories by Irish writer Colm Tóibín. It was published in the UK in October 2010 and was released in the US in January 2011.

<i>The Book of Night Women</i> 2009 novel by Marlon James

The Book of Night Women is a 2009 novel by Jamaican author Marlon James. The book was first published in hardback on February 19, 2009, by Riverhead Books. The story follows Lilith, a young woman born into slavery, who challenges the boundaries of what is expected of her.

<i>Grand Union</i> (short story collection) 2019 short story collection by Zadie Smith

Grand Union: Stories is a 2019 short story collection by Zadie Smith. It was published on 3 October 2019 by Hamish Hamilton, an imprint of Penguin Books.

<i>Girl, Woman, Other</i> 2018 novel by Bernardine Evaristo

Girl, Woman, Other is the eighth novel by Bernardine Evaristo. Published in 2019 by Hamish Hamilton, it follows the lives of 12 characters in the United Kingdom over the course of several decades. The book was the co-winner of the 2019 Booker Prize, alongside Margaret Atwood's The Testaments.

Jenny Bhatt is an Indian American writer, literary translator, and literary critic. She is the author of an award-winning story collection, Each of Us Killers, an award-shortlisted literary translation, Ratno Dholi: The Best Stories of Dhumketu, and the literary translation, The Shehnai Virtuoso and Other Stories by Dhumketu. She is the founder of Desi Books, a global multimedia platform for South Asian literature, and a creative writing instructor at Writing Workshops Dallas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Jubilee Read</span> List of 70 books

The Big Jubilee Read is a 2022 campaign to promote reading for pleasure and to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. A list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, 10 from each decade of Elizabeth II's reign, was selected by a panel of experts and announced by the BBC and The Reading Agency on 18 April 2022.

References

  1. Kunzru (June 8, 2008). "Book Review - 'The Boat,' by Nam Le". New York Times Book Review . Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  2. Andrew Seal. "The Boat by Nam Le". The Quarterly Conversation . Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  3. "Nam Le in conversation with Cate Kennedy about The Boat". SlowTV. The Monthly. July 2008.
  4. "The Boat". Book Marks . Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  5. "The Boat By Nam Le". Bookmarks Magazine . Archived from the original on 6 Sep 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  6. "The Big Jubilee Read: A literary celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's record-breaking reign". BBC. 17 April 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.