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海中白象
《海中白象》共收入九个中短篇小说,主人公均为移民美国的华人,写的是他们在美国生活的日常。其中,《海中白象》从女儿的视角讲述父母情感破裂的故事,父亲为了生计常年在外奔波,母亲红杏出墙造成夫妻裂痕;《潮来》描绘一对闺蜜不同的命运轨迹,以双线形式讲述老病和毒品导致的复调悲剧;《陀飞轮》写出少男少女青春期的悸动,对异性的好奇和对性的探索,背后隐藏的是女主角对于存在状态的不满和反抗;《消失》与《陀飞轮》是姊妹篇,采取不同的视角,《消失》是以女孩的第一人称来讲述一个钢琴天才少女在父母离异后,决定不再忍受被安排的人生道路,以消失的方式完成自己的反叛;《烟花冷》中,女主人公百合的“合伙丈夫”心脏病突发去世,她走出短暂消沉,在回忆和对现实的关切中,重拾人间的美好;《豹》通过一对小夫妻因流产而产生嫌隙又努力弥合的心路,揭示了生命的魅力;《时差》写了一个丧偶式育儿的主妇突然昏迷,丈夫在照护妻儿及深度自省的过程中,产生对正常家庭生活的渴求;《萍聚》通过一次疫情期间的老友聚会,回顾了由一桩技术间谍案引发的官司,展现了华人间的互助与亲情;《四分之一英里》经由一位站街女的惨死,书写了华人女性间的惺惺相惜。小说集《海中白象》里描写的美国,是一个普通人的美国,一个更真实的美国;这些中短篇小说共同组成一幅移民浮世绘,个人的奋斗在生活的偶然性面前显得如此脆弱,人们求生的热忱又如此强烈,营造出一种命运的神秘感和悲壮感。
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Exhibit A
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A Whole New Mind
Lawyers. Accountants. Radiologists. Software engineers. That's what our parents encouraged us to become when we grew up. But Mom and Dad were wrong. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind. The era of "left brain" dominance, and the Information Age that it engendered, are giving way to a new world in which "right brain" qualities-inventiveness, empathy, meaning-predominate. That's the argument at the center of this provocative and original book, which uses the two sides of our brains as a metaphor for understanding the contours of our times. In the tradition of Emotional Intelligence and Now, Discover Your Strengths , Daniel H. Pink offers a fresh look at what it takes to excel. A Whole New Mind reveals the six essential aptitudes on which professional success and personal fulfillment now depend, and includes a series of hands-on exercises culled from experts around the world to help readers sharpen the necessary abilities. This book will change not only how we see the world but how we experience it as well. -
MXO
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A Perfect Mess
Like Freakonomics, here is a book that combines counterintuitive thinking with stories from everyday life to provide a striking new view of how our world works. Ever since Einstein's study of Brownian Motion, scientists have understood that a little disorder actually makes systems more effective. But most people still shun disorder--or suffer guilt over the mess they can't avoid. No longer! With a spectacular array of anecdotes and case studies of the useful role mess can play, here is an antidote to the accepted wisdom that tight schedules, neatness, and consistency are the keys to success. Drawing on examples from business, parenting, cooking, the war on terrorism, retail, and even the meteoric career of Arnold Schwarzenegger, coauthors Abrahamson and Freedman demonstrate that moderately messy systems use resources more efficiently, yield better solutions, and are harder to break than neat ones. A Perfect Mess will help readers assess what the right amount of disorder is for a given system, and how to apply these ideas onto a large scale--government, society-- and on a small scale--in your attic, kitchen, or office. A Perfect Mess will forever change the way we think about those unruly heaps of paper on our desks. -
A to Z
【96年5月好讀推薦】與年少記憶對話持續創作的奈良美智,及透過商品創作更新生活環境的graf,兩人在二○○三年相遇後,擦撞出無以名狀的絢爛火花;這些無法收容於美術館展示箱內的造物,於青森縣弘前市的古老紅磚倉庫內重現又消失。他們利用三年間各地展覽所剩的廢材,打造了那個稍稍逸出常軌的世界。 ■推薦理由:奈良美智夢幻展覽「A to Z」的全紀錄。