Boat People: A Novel

Mary Gardner reminds us of our history: America itself is a country of boat people with ties to more than one world. This powerful narrative, winner of the 1993 Associated Writing Programs award for the novel, focuses on Galveston, Texas, and a community of newly arrived Vietnamese. Struggling to maintain a balance between Vietnam and America, they live with one foot in each world. Close-knit families, now fragmented, dream of the "kingdom of elders left behind"; young girls shoulder responsibility far beyond their years; and homesick professionals, puzzled by American customs, strive to belong while clinging to the rituals that sustain them. Seared by memories of escape and loss, these people are tough and funny too. There's Trang, obsessed by her mixed parentage and the quest for her American father; spunky little Xan, who acts out with Kung Fu; Linh, whose mother is hospitalized because of "the ghost husband in her head"; and Dr. Nguyen, savvy first-year medical resident but still a stranger. As this deeply felt novel examines the difficulties and possibilities for connection in a triracial culture―Vietnamese, Black, and American―it brims with memorable characters finding their way or easing the way for others.

Literature & Fiction

Gardner, Mary

United States

W.W.Norton&Company

“This book has unusual insight into the human heart. Every scene is wonderfully immediate, real. The reader is instantly drawn into this world, sensing a familiar territory where discoveries may yet be made.” ―Josephine Humphreys This powerful narrative, winner of the 1993 Associated Writing Programs award for the novel, focuses on Galveston, Texas, and a community of newly arrived Vietnamese. Struggling to maintain a balance between Vietnam and America, they live with one foot in each world. Close-knit families, now fragmented, dream of the “kingdom of elders left behind”; young girls shoulder responsibility far beyond their years; and homesick professionals, puzzled by American customs, strive to belong while clinging to the rituals that sustain them.

A Short and Easy Modern Greek Grammar

History

Europe

BiblioLife

Keeping Warm

Atheneum

Thirty hand-picked tattoo shops and the work of over one hundred artists are included in this book showcasing the blossoming body art communities in New Mexico and Arizona. Displayed are over 600 color photos of tattoo artistry. Trendsetting artists create a wide range of tattoo art in motifs as diverse as the men and women who receive and appreciate them. The artwork ranges from the small to the large. Classic black and white artistry and modern full color work are featured. Themes captured include natural scenes, animals and birds, flowers, nautical scenes and symbols, Oriental motifs from dragons to geishas, portraits of loved ones, religious art, Day of the Dead motifs, occult symbology, and much more. The artists and their shops are also featured. For anyone with an appreciation of tattoo artistry, this book is for you.

Tattoo Road Trip: The Pacific Northwest

Arts & Photography

Baxter, Bob

Graphic Design

Schiffer

Tattoo Road Trip: Two Weeks in Samoa: Two Weeks in Samoa (Schiffer Book)

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Beauty, Grooming, & Style

Tattoo Road Trip: Southern California: Southern California

Travel

Thirty hand-picked tattoo shops and the work of over one hundred artists are included in this book showcasing the blossoming body art communities in New Mexico and Arizona. Displayed are over 600 color photos of tattoo artistry. Trendsetting artists create a wide range of tattoo art in motifs as diverse as the men and women who receive and appreciate them. The artwork ranges from the small to the large. Classic black and white artistry and modern full color work are featured. Themes captured include natural scenes, animals and birds, flowers, nautical scenes and symbols, Oriental motifs from dragons to geishas, portraits of loved ones, religious art, Day of the Dead motifs, occult symbology, and much more. The artists and their shops are also featured. For anyone with an appreciation of tattoo artistry, this book is for you.

Tattoo Road Trip: Best of the Southwest: Arizona & New Mexico (Tattoo Road Trip, 2)

One thing I can say with certainty is that I have not had a dull life. I have been shot twice, stabbed, blown up, bitten by a rattlesnake and by a scorpion, plus had numerous car and motorcycle accidents...I've even been married twice.
Here is the true-life story of Richard "Deadeye" Hayes in all its bad-ass, balls-to-the-wall glory. This is a man who stole a machine gun before he was seven and lost his left eye when a good friend shot him in the face. As a member--and then president--of the infamous Los Valientes Motorcycle Club, he broke more laws and had more fun than any six of the coolest guys you know.
Butch told me the club had a hard time deciding whether to vote me in or kill me.I always hoped he was kidding.
One of the last true Outlaw Bikers, Deadeye knows what it means to be a man, take shit from no one, and have tattoos that actually say something. Riding, drug dealing, and sending men to the hospital with his bare hands, Deadeye made himself a legend among bikers--all the while making sure his daughters never got mixed up with guys like him.
I've always been of the belief that bikers are born, not made. Real bikers, that is. We must have an extra gene or something that gives us this I'll-live-like-I-want-whether-you-approve-of-it-or-not-and-fuck-your-rules attitude.
In his own words, Deadeye tells it all. From earning his colors with an outlaw motorcycle club to his steady diet of drugs, sex, violence, and crime, this is his story: true to life, yet larger than life, and full throttle all the way.
Richard "Deadeye" Hayes grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and learned at an early age that the confines of school and authority bored him. To alleviate this minor problem, he created much larger ones such as bar fights, gunfights, knife fights, fistfights, drugs, drug dealers, drug dealing, and dealing in stolen goods. It is an understatement to say that Deadeye enjoys adventure and values a sense of humor. He currently serves as president of the Los Valientes Motorcycle Club. He lives in South St. Paul, Minnesota.
Mary Gardner is the author of Salvation Run, Boat People, and two other novels. A former Woodrow Wilson Fellow with a master's degree in English from the University of Chicago, she teaches at the Loft, a community writing center in Minneapolis. Her shorter work has been published in The New York Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Friends Journal. In the winter she lives in St. Paul; she spends summers in her cabin in northwestern Minnesota.
"Colorful, fast-paced and fun." --Kirkus Reviews
"Surely Deadeye Hayes has defied all actuarial tables to live long enough to write Outlaw Biker. I read an advance copy of this memoir at full throttle with fascination equal to passing an especially grisly wreck on the highway. The writing possesses sureness, authenticity, and maybe even a touch of poetry. If you have a rebellious teenage daughter, don't read this book any time soon. This may just be the best book ever written by an author who's been shot twice, stabbed once, and bitten by a rattlesnake!" --Geoffrey Leavenworth, author of Isle of Misfortune

Outlaw Biker: My Life At Full Throttle

Hayes, Richard

Americas

Citadel

Tough, optimistic, yet still scarred by memories of escape and loss--by their traumatic passage by boat out of Vietnam to freedom--the characters in this deeply felt novel seek an ever elusive balance between their old world and their new home on the Texas coast. Boat People was the winner of the Associated Writing Programs Award for the Novel in 1993.

Univ of Georgia Pr

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Books by Gardner, Mary