Giovanni Xu Xu من عند نيويورك من عند نيويورك

Excellent read. Loved every page of it.

The short essay format works well here in keeping the memoir aspect "fresh", as opposed to a traditional chronological narrative ("I came, I married, I adapted"). Entries are varied enough so that I never felt the author was re-hashing covered ground, yet are presented in an organized manner; it never seemed to me that the story was jumping around. I suppose I could see some readers coming away frustrated that it's not enough of a memoir, though it's not intended as such, but an overview of (or introduction to) Otowa's world. If I had to quibble, I'd say the author romanticizes things a bit. Moreover, she appears to have married into an upper class rural family - a reminder that authentic does not necessarily mean typical. Definitely recommended, both for the text and illustrations.