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A Gesture Life
A Gesture Life
Author: Chang-Rae Lee
A Gesture Life is the story of a proper man, an upstanding citizen who has come to epitomize the decorous values of his New York suburban town. Courteous, honest, hardworking, and impenetrable, Franklin Hata, a Japanese man of Korean birth, is careful never to overstep his boundaries and to make his neighbors comfortable in his presence. ...  more »
ISBN-13: 9781573221467
ISBN-10: 1573221465
Publication Date: 9/6/1999
Pages: 356
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 6

3.8 stars, based on 6 ratings
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

jayalmonte avatar reviewed A Gesture Life on
Helpful Score: 3
What an interesting and surprisingly satisfying read. As a twenty-something, I didn't think I would connect with this book when I first opened it. It's traces the life of Franklin Hata, an eighty-something retired medical supply shop owner, as he meanders through retirement in a wealthy New York city suburb in Westchester. But, he is so well drawn through Lee's narrative, that you can't help but fall in love with him, and be drawn into the story of his life, his experiences in the second World War with the Japanese military, and his life as the father of a little girl he adopted. This book was moving and profound, and I would certainly recommend it to readers of any age.
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reviewed A Gesture Life on + 334 more book reviews
An extremely readable novel - believable and honest.
statue86 avatar reviewed A Gesture Life on + 19 more book reviews
Wonderful writer! Insightful views of experiences of the main character as a medic in the Japanese army in WWII and his attempts at assimilation into American life.
paigu avatar reviewed A Gesture Life on + 120 more book reviews
Brilliant. Lee Chang-rae writes with such subtle emotiion. A beautiful tale of war time atrocities and redemption.
reviewed A Gesture Life on + 15 more book reviews
Not as good as his first, but still interesting.


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