Tropic of Orange - by Karen Tei Yamashita (Paperback)

About the Book

An apocalypse of race, class, and culture, fanned by the media and the harsh L.A. sun.

Book Synopsis

An apocalypse of race, class, and culture fanned by the media and the harsh L.A. sun.

Irreverently juggling magical realism, film noir, hip-hop, and chicanismo, Tropic of Orange takes place in a Los Angeles where the homeless, gangsters, infant organ entrepreneurs, and Hollywood collide on a stretch of the Harbor Freeway. Hemmed in by wildfires, it's a symphony conducted from an overpass: grandiose, comic, and as diverse as the city itself.

Review Quotes

Praise for Tropic of Orange

"Fiercely satirical. . . . Yamashita presents [an] intricate plot with mordant wit." -The New York Times Book Review

"A stunner. . . . An exquisite mystery novel. But this is a novel of dystopia and apocalypse; the mystery concerns the tragic flaws of human nature." --Library Journal, starred review

"Yamashita handles her eccentrics and the setting of their adventures with panache. David Foster Wallace meets Gabriel Garcíiacute;a Máaacute;rquez." --Publishers Weekly

"Tropic of Orange is a compelling, kinetic novel with real humanity." --Chicago Review of Books

Praise for Tropic of Orange

"Fiercely satirical. . . . Yamashita presents [an] intricate plot with mordant wit." --The New York Times Book Review

"A stunner. . . . An exquisite mystery novel. But this is a novel of dystopia and apocalypse; the mystery concerns the tragic flaws of human nature." --Library Journal, starred review

"Yamashita handles her eccentrics and the setting of their adventures with panache. David Foster Wallace meets Gabriel García Márquez." --Publishers Weekly

"Tropic of Orange is a compelling, kinetic novel with real humanity." --Chicago Review of Books

About the Author

Karen Tei Yamashita is the author of Letters to Memory, Through the Arc of the Rain Forest, Brazil-Maru, Tropic of Orange, Circle K Cycles, I Hotel, and Anime Wong, all published by Coffee House Press. I Hotel was selected as a finalist for the National Book Award and awarded the California Book Award, the American Book Award, the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association Award, and the Association for Asian American Studies Book Award. She has been a US Artists Ford Foundation Fellow and co-holder of the University of California Presidential Chair for Feminist & Critical Race & Ethnic Studies. She is currently Professor Emeritus of Literature and Creative Writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz.