In this profoundly moving novel, a young woman looks back to the world of her immigrant parents: a Chinese-Panamanian father and a German mother who meet in post-war Germany and settle in New York. Growing up in a housing project in the 1950s and 1960s, the narrator escapes into dreams inspired both by her parents' stories and by her own reading and, for a time, into the otherworldly life of ballet. A yearning, homesick mother, a silent and withdrawn father, the ballet - these are the elements that shape the young woman's imaginations and sexuality. Years later, while working as an English instructor, she begins an affair with a Russian immigrant. As his English improves, he binds her to him by becoming more and more articulate in expressing his feelings for her, but at the same time frightens her with every new revelation about his own troubled past.
"An intelligent and poignant examination of social and erotic displacement, and written with such extraordinary and seemingly unstudied conviction that one accepts every word of it as truth."--"Atlantic Monthly
"A forceful novel by a writer of uncommon talent."--"The New York Times Book Review
""A Feather on the Breath of God brilliantly succeeds in describing a life on the fringe, outside the conventional categories of cultural and personal identity....A remarkable book, full of strange brilliance, trembling with fury and tenderness."--"The Philadelphia Inquirer
"A remarkable, often disturbing portrait . . . Nunez's language throughout is spare, utterly lacking in sentimentality."--"Los Angeles Times Book Review
"A forceful novel by a writer of uncommon talent."--"The""New York Times Book Review" "This is a very honest, painful book, almost relentless in its objectivity. The heroine's Chinese father, German mother, and Russian lover embody different fates of American immigrants. This novel is a genuine piece of immigrant literature and deserves a large readership."--Ha Jin, "Bookforum" "This strange, lucid story of the unwished-for child of unassimilated immigrants takes us well beyond the particulars of 'mixed ethnicity'--beyond even the experience of 'America'--into deep paradoxes of identity and love. Both old-fashioned and subversive, stringent and redemptive, it's a pleasure from the first page to the last."--Jonathan Franzen, author of "The Corrections" "A remarkable, often disturbing portrait . . . Nunez's language throughout is spare, utterly lacking in sentimentality."--"Los Angeles Times Book Review""" "An intelligent and poignant examination of social and erotic displacement, and written with such extraordinary and seemingly unstudied conviction that one accepts every word of it as truth."--"Atlantic Monthly" ""A Feather on the Breath of God" brilliantly succeeds in describing a life on the fringe, outside the conventional categories of cultural and personal identity. . . . A remarkable book, full of strange brilliance, trembling with fury and tenderness."--"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
A forceful novel by a writer of uncommon talent. "The New York Times Book Review"
This is a very honest, painful book, almost relentless in its objectivity. The heroine's Chinese father, German mother, and Russian lover embody different fates of American immigrants. This novel is a genuine piece of immigrant literature and deserves a large readership. "Ha Jin, Bookforum"
This strange, lucid story of the unwished-for child of unassimilated immigrants takes us well beyond the particulars of 'mixed ethnicity'--beyond even the experience of 'America'--into deep paradoxes of identity and love. Both old-fashioned and subversive, stringent and redemptive, it's a pleasure from the first page to the last. "Jonathan Franzen, author of The Corrections"
A remarkable, often disturbing portrait . . . Nunez's language throughout is spare, utterly lacking in sentimentality. "Los Angeles Times Book Review"
An intelligent and poignant examination of social and erotic displacement, and written with such extraordinary and seemingly unstudied conviction that one accepts every word of it as truth. "Atlantic Monthly"
"A Feather on the Breath of God" brilliantly succeeds in describing a life on the fringe, outside the conventional categories of cultural and personal identity. . . . A remarkable book, full of strange brilliance, trembling with fury and tenderness. "The Philadelphia Inquirer""
"A forceful novel by a writer of uncommon talent." --The New York Times Book Review
"This is a very honest, painful book, almost relentless in its objectivity. The heroine's Chinese father, German mother, and Russian lover embody different fates of American immigrants. This novel is a genuine piece of immigrant literature and deserves a large readership." --Ha Jin, Bookforum
"This strange, lucid story of the unwished-for child of unassimilated immigrants takes us well beyond the particulars of 'mixed ethnicity'--beyond even the experience of 'America'--into deep paradoxes of identity and love. Both old-fashioned and subversive, stringent and redemptive, it's a pleasure from the first page to the last." --Jonathan Franzen, author of The Corrections
"A remarkable, often disturbing portrait . . . Nunez's language throughout is spare, utterly lacking in sentimentality." --Los Angeles Times Book Review
"An intelligent and poignant examination of social and erotic displacement, and written with such extraordinary and seemingly unstudied conviction that one accepts every word of it as truth." --Atlantic Monthly
"A Feather on the Breath of God brilliantly succeeds in describing a life on the fringe, outside the conventional categories of cultural and personal identity. . . . A remarkable book, full of strange brilliance, trembling with fury and tenderness." --The Philadelphia Inquirer
