The Double Life of Benson Yu
A Novel
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3.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
Shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize
“A nuanced, complex, and highly original novel.” —Charles Yu, National Book Award–winning author of Interior Chinatown
A fresh, unique work of metafiction that follows a graphic novelist who loses control of his own narrative when he attempts to write the story of his fraught upbringing in 1980s Chinatown.
In a Chinatown housing project lives twelve-year-old Benny, his ailing grandmother, and his strange neighbor Constantine, a man who believes he’s a reincarnated medieval samurai. When his grandmother is hospitalized, Benny manages to survive on his own until a social worker comes snooping. With no other family, he is reluctantly taken in by Constantine and soon, an unlikely bond forms between the two.
At least, that’s what Yu, the narrator of the story, wants to write.
The creator of a bestselling comic book, Yu is struggling with continuing the poignant tale of Benny and can’t help but interject from the present day, slowly revealing a darker backstory. Can Yu confront the demons he’s spent his adult life avoiding or risk his own life...and Benny’s?
“Instructive as it is inspiring, The Double Life of Benson Yu is a phenomenal example of a writer taking real risks in order to reveal and reckon with deep-rooted, tormenting truths as a means of moving forward. Kevin Chong has crafted a novel that will get your heart pumping, mind jumping, and, best of all, fingers turning” (Mateo Askaripour, New York Times bestselling author).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A Chinese American comic book author faces the truth of his painful childhood in Chong's inventive metafictional outing (after The Plague, a retelling of Camus's novel). Benny, the fictional version of author Benson Yu, is raised by his grandmother in 1980s New York City. She dies when he is 12, and he attempts to fend for himself in their Chinatown apartment. Meanwhile, a burly white man named Constantine who believes he's a samurai warrior has moved into the building, just down the hall from Benny's grandmother's apartment. In order to escape the prying eyes of social workers, Benny asks a reluctant Constantine if he can stay with him. Yu frequently intrudes on the narrative, implying that a real Constantine had abused him and claiming that his choice to make Benny 12 rather than a young adult "gets closer to the emotional truth." After Constantine reappears in Yu's life, Yu attempts to find catharsis through writing a fictional account of his early years. Chong delivers a convincing account of Benny's childhood neglect, though the authorial commentary tends to confuse an otherwise vivid story. This will frustrate and move readers in equal measure.
