Title: Memoir of Half a Banana
Author: Fay Chou
Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
ISBN: 1543749585
Pages: 288
Genre: Memoir
Review by: David Allen
Pacific Book Review
This exceedingly well-written and heartfelt memoir will appeal to many audiences. Its cosmopolitan widely inclusive sweep embraces the author’s years in Illinois, Los Angeles and in her native Taiwan, where she raised a family, was a successful businesswoman, and a very adept writer. Fay Chou, a star student of literature and highly skilled narrator, gets to flex her writerly gifts in this personal, family and cultural history that brings to life Chinese-American history here and abroad.
The book’s praises cannot be sung too highly! This memoir, which includes chilling accounts of the Sino-Japanese War, and more even-handed ones of Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution, benefits from the author’s inherent graciousness and tendency to understand and somewhat forgive the trepidations of history. In her capable hands, the broad sweep of historical change is married to the rise and fall of individual lives. Readers interested in the emerging importance of China in the modern world will find this ring-side-seat absolutely fascinating. American readers who cannot trace their origin back to the Mayflower (that would include most of us!) will likewise find this memoir moving and informative. Books like this help us appreciate the ‘One from Column A, One from Column B’ mix of diversity that has made and continues to make this country great.
The anecdotes in Memoir of Half a Banana are plentiful and scrumptious. The writing is playful, humorous, and extremely inventive. Clearly, Ms. Chou, as an entrepreneur, mother, wife and gifted writer, has lived a very full life. Its breadth and compass are evident throughout. Sidelights on business conflicts, loyalty concerns, and even Buddhism make this book much more than a collection of anecdotes. We get to follow the progress of the author’s children Heather and Owen as they navigate the path of second-generation Chinese-American citizenry. Caring for her aging father and working for a Buddhist organization, Chou’s generosity and largesse of spirit are profoundly human.
Memoir of Half a Banana is a cohesive tapestry knit by a woman making ultimate sense of her origins, her life, and her work. Beyond that, the author’s spirit – an old soul, commenting wisely and serenely on a life lived well, a life lived modestly, and humbly – will be an inspiration to readers of all ages. Fay Chou’s abiding interest in the paranormal and in sources of spiritual and emotional energy are reflected in her passion for the discipline of Qigong.
Memoir of Half a Banana is a charming and exemplary memoir. It brings together the threads of at least two cultures – one 5000 years old, the other contemporary – and their impassioned and beautiful offspring.
