Revenge of the Mooncake Vixen: A Manifesto in 41 Tales

Difficult to describe it's one of those books your have to read for yourself to fully understand. Marilyn Chin tells the stories of twins, as if they are two halves of a whole person, in various short stories connecting them through themes of revenge, sex, family, tradition, while also touching on themes or racism and assimilation. It's an experience, a wonderful experience so give it a read and see for yourself.

One of my most favorite books of this century. Before #metoo and anti-bullying campaigns, this book attests to what women, and specifically "Asian" women put up with (and still put up with in this Covid-19 age), from the legacy of the Yellow Peril to objectification. Also, Chin's playful way with language is unrivaled. Grandma Wong and Twins Moonie and Mei-Ling confront and demolish every stereotype you thought was out there. With her own brand of magical realism, Chin's writing uses humor and the fantastic to teach and entertain. As another reviewer noted, if you are puritanical in your tastes----you have been warned that this book might not be for you, but why not shake up your status quo?

In batter condition that expected

I like this book because it gives an interesting and fun point of view from another culture I like reading books about different cultures especially from a light hearted perspective

Great

This is so different from any other book I've ever read - I really enjoyed the characters, the unexpected narrative structure, and the blending of mythology with the contemporary world.

An immigrant coming of age tale of twins, Moonie and Mei Ling, in California under the beady eye (and cleaver) of their domineering grandmother, this tale is told in a non-linear variety of short parables and stories. It's graphic, crude and rude in many places but is informed by traditional Chinese, Taoist, Zen and Buddhist texts with a bit of kung-fu and manga for good measure.Revenge of the Mooncake Vixen (oh, how I love that title!) will almost certainly not be to everyone's taste, but I confess that I loved its originality, boldness, sassy style and the humour of it.If this book were a CD, it would almost certainly carry one of those `'parental advisory'` stickers. Make no mistake, this is not for the overly sensitive reader. It's rude, nay even crude, in many places and that alone will probably put some people off. While I'm at it, let's get the other potential frustrations out of the way. It's a non-linear story; in fact it's more of a series of short (sometimes very short) stories and parables all about the same people that add up to a whole picture of an immigrant coming of age tale - but more about that in a moment. Finally, it has a number of areas of what might be termed either magical realism or perhaps more accurately surreal moments (talking animals included). If any of these put you off, then you will almost certainly not enjoy this strange little book. It's not a book you are likely to feel ambivalent about - it's a `love it' or `hate it' kind of book.The fantastic characters in this story include Grandmother Wong - the mad, matriarch of the Wong family who frequently wields her meat cleaver and has a tongue sharper than a serpent's tooth but who deep down has a warm heart, and who is frankly on a hiding to nothing raising the twins, who are the stars of this book, in California while trying to maintain some of the values of the old country. The twins' parents are too busy working in the family restaurant, the Double Happiness, to have much to do with the girls.Which brings me to the twins: Moonie and Mei Ling. They have very different characters - Moonie is tom-boyish and prone to attacking people kung-fu style, while girly-girl Mei Ling is, well, there's no nice way of saying this, a bit on the promiscuous side. That's far more polite than how Moonie would describe her, and undoubtedly more than she deserves. We get some very graphic descriptions of the antics of both girls - and believe me, these two Wongs do not make a right. After reading this book, I can assure you, you will never look at tofu in the same light again.The book is at times angry, but mostly just very funny (in a fairly crude way) and focusses on issues of identity, culture, traditional values and immigrant issues as well as being a coming of age story as the twins emerge from the family unit into university and return to wreak havoc in California, driving the family restaurant delivery van in the holidays and getting up to no good. Towards the end of the book we get to find out how their lives turned out, particularly that of Mei Ling.What prevents this from being just a light, shock value book is that Marilyn Chin's writing is informed by Chinese, Taoist, Zen and Buddhist tales as well as kung-fu and manga. She parodies Buddhist and Zen tales and koans - the traditional question and answer technique `'designed to be nonsensical, circuitous, often shocking and humorous to force the student to relinquish conventional thinking and thereby achieve instant enlightenment'` as Chin explains in her Postscript.Chin uses a variety of styles and voices - some work better than others - but it is the combined effect that is so much fun. It's a short book and quick read but I would happily have read far more about these wild twins and their wonderfully mad grandmother.And rather appropriately for a book set around the family Chinese restaurant - an hour after finishing the book, I wanted to read it all over again!

Funny, insightful, and a joy to read. I loved all the characters but the grandmother was my favorite.

I don't usually enjoy short stories, but this collection felt rather less disjointed than most as the stories all featured recurring characters (primarily the twins: Moonie and Mei Ling; and their grandmother: The Great Matriarch). Very sexual at times and always funny, my copy includes a "Postscript/Some Notes" by the author at the back which help with understanding some of the cultural references in the 41 tales. Despite (or, perhaps, with the help of) its surrealism, the book makes interesting comments about being an immigrant, about traditions, and about cultural pressures and expectations from within and without one's 'people', which I'm sure other non-asian minorities can relate to on some level as I did.I love the imagery and 'magic' (literal and figurative) these stories possessed and, though I don't tend to re-read books, I can imagine re-reading whole passages of this one (if not re-reading it in its entirety!).[...]

Quality of book fine. Didn't enjoy the story-2nd read perhaps would be beneficial!