Dept of Congratulations: Phong Nguyen

Editor Phong Nguyen has a new novel out today, The Adventures of Joe Harper. The Adventures of Joe Harper picks up where The Adventures of Tom Sawyer leaves off. Twenty years after plundering with Tom, Joe Harper is a failed pirate turned vagabond, wandering in search of the perfect cave in which to die. What he finds instead is a philosophizing Chinese railroad worker and an Amish woman fleeing a forced marriage―a surrogate family that bonds over their hobo adventures. When the three are arrested and forced to work on a chain gang, their narrow escape earns them a powerful enemy, until they are rescued by Tom Sawyer… who just might be the greatest threat they’ve faced yet. Inspired by Twain’s storytelling, Phong Nguyen expertly evokes the beloved world of Tom Sawyer and extends Twain’s savvy commentary to the struggles of Chinese Americans, women, and outcasts in Reconstruction America.

Some advance praise:

“Phong Nguyen takes on American history and literature in this captivating novel. Writing about a marginal character in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, he illuminates the marginal characters of American culture in the 19th century. The imaginative return of an adult Tom Sawyer is alone worth the price of this book.”
– Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of The Sympathizer, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize

“funny, smart, and full of surprises”
– Christine Sneed, author of Paris, He Said and The Virginity of Famous Men

“mordant, hilarious and eminently readable”
– Zachary Mason, author of The Lost Books of the Odyssey