Customer Reviews

Buddha Baby

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the story of Lindsey Owyang, the Chinese, San Franciscan heroine of Keltner's previous book, The Dim Sum of All Things. Lindsey has two jobs, one at a museum gift shop and the other at the Catholic school she attended as a child. She also has a loving boyfriend named Michael, who spends most of the book at a vegan retreat. He's doing an expose for the magazine he works for, called Vegan Warrior.

While Michael is away, Lindsey finds herself drawn to Dustin Lee, one of the few other Chinese students at her Catholic elementary school. Dustin left the school after sixth grade (one of the nuns had a crush on him and kept pulling him onto her lap), and she hadn't seen him since. Now he's back in town and looking pretty hot, with a motorcycle. Lindsey's suddenly wondering why she's never dated an Asian guy. Dustin, in turn, has only dated white women.

In another subplot, Lindsey starts to wonder about her cranky grandmother's past when she finds some photos in the basement at her school. After some visits with her grandfather and one of the current students at the school, she pieces together some answers.

The first half of the book is a little disjointed. Before Dustin appears on the scene, and Lindsey starts investigating her grandmother's past, there is really no suspense or dramatic question to drive the plot forward, and readers may find themselves putting the book down. But the second half of the book moves right along, as the reader will want to find out whether Lindsey gives in to the temptation of Dustin.

The book also has some interesting observations. Lindsey talks about "Angry Asian Men" who give her attitude because she dates white men (her boyfriend is a quarter Chinese, but no one can tell from his appearance). However, the book is a little heavy-handed in its treatment of Catholic school; one of the nuns tells Lindsey that the school is much improved, and "now only practices mild corporal punishment".

Overall, this is a fun, interesting book that picks up considerably in the second half. If you enjoyed The Dim Sum of All Things, you will probably enjoy this book as well.

As a Chinese-American woman living in San Francisco, I could certainly relate to many of the experiences and relationships Lindsey Owyang has with other people and more precisely with her family. However, not being a native San Franciscan, I was constantly intrigued with the richness and depth the city life offers for a Chinese person (and even a non-Chinese person) who grew up here. San Francisco is intimately and lovingly described and it makes me grateful to live here. I also fondly appreciate Ms. Keltner's humor, especially when used to elaborate her insights about the complexities of being a hyphenated-American. i.e. being a minority in a predominantly white world, while still feeling like an outcast in Chinatown.

I have a confession to make. I am a forty year old Asian American man. I'm a guy's guy. I love sports. I love TV. Would never be caught dead reading anything with a cover that didn't have Sports Illustrated, Wall Street Journal or Tom Clancy emblazoned in bold letters. But I must admit, I LOVED reading this book!

"Buddha Baby", Kim Wong Keltner's follow-up novel to her groundbreaking "Dim Sum of All Things" expands upon a very special, very sacred, and still very uniquely San Francisco universe. Readers of her first book will assuredly want to catch up on the goings-on of Lindsay Owyang. Like Michael Corleone in the Godfather, Lindsay's story continues as she aspires to go legit, but the trappings of her own heritage and upbringing keep pulling her back in. This time its not just her ethnicity, her love of all things Brady, no, this time it's Catholic School.

Not sure what problem the previous reviewer (Julianne Be-yotch) had with Keltner's take on St. Marauders (freudian slip) Catholic School. I grew up in San Francisco. I went to Catholic school. And I have the scars to prove that everthing, well almost everything, Keltner expouses on is spot on. In fact, I have a brother that used to act the maggot!

Anyways, without going Mick Lasalle and giving away the whole book, let's just say that "Buddha Baby" delivers - it's less Joy Luck Club with more thought-out representations of men (Dustin Rocks!), it's funnier (I think I actually dated a Virginia Poon-Tang), and it's even got 88 Lines about 44 Chinese Kids!

So whatcha waiting for? Go out and buy this book! Even you non-chick lit fans will love it (that means you Shintaro, Nai-man, and Furi-mama).

An interesting look at the lifestyle and thoughts of a Chinese American woman in San Francisco, but not very deep or meaningful. A family mystery subplot is never fully realized, which makes one wonder why it was included in the first place. Also, the author seems rather fixated on interracial relationships, but Dustin is too one-dimensional a character to explore this properly. Michael doesn't supply any dramatic tension either, as he's pretty far away from the action. This book would really rate 3.5 stars instead of 3 if it weren't for Keltner's truly annoying habit of describing sex in horrible metaphors. Repeatedly. I mean, "the bone dance"?

Kim Wong Keltner's "Buddha Baby" a sequel from "The Dim Sum of All Things" continued with the story of Lindsey Owyang who worked in a gift shop at a museum and as a office assistant in a Catholic grade school she used to attend. She had an immense dislike for the Angry Asian Man, basically men who showed verbal and non verbal messages of their dislike for Asian women who dated White men. Afterall, she was dating Michael, who might as well be a full-blooded white man, even though he was one quarter Asian. In addition, Lindsey had developed a curiousity over her grandparents' history and was determined to learn more about them. While Micheal was away in a Vegan retreat, Lindsey met up with Dustin, whom she had a crush on in grade school.

This is definitely am improvement compared to Kim Wong Keltner's previous book, "The Dim Sum of All Things" where the plot was thin, and was less engaging. In this book, the author, through the character Lindsey, continued with her observation of Chinese cultures as well as providing glimpses of the identity crises of a Chinese-American. This is quite an interesting read even though the author sometimes seems fixated in the whole "Asian vs Caucasian" issue.

After reading Dim Sum of All Things, I became a big fan of Keltner's work. My biggest question was whether or not she would be able to break from the theme and writing style that worked so well for her in Dim Sum. Unfortunately, the answer is no. Dim Sum had a much better plot line and the small intricate stories she paints to animate her Lindsey character worked so well together that the reader was compelled to believe they were in Lindsey's shoes. In Buddha Baby, the overall plot is at best, weak. Keltner attempts to tell small stories of Lindsey's life, but this time, it does not work. Dim Sum was a breath of fresh air with plenty of stories that Asian people can especially identify with. The moments where you wanted to laugh or cry out loud from experiencing moments exactly like Lindsey are no longer there in Buddha Baby.

As an asian myself, a lot of her stories hit home and I have yet to read any work of fiction or non-fiction that even tries to explain much of what we face, especially being of the 1.5 generation. I have to hand it to Keltner to even attempt such a feat. I will forever cherish her Lindsey character, but her storytelling of Lindsey's Asian and American character duality has run its course. We barely get to see any this in Buddha Baby. I will still read Keltner's next installment should she choose to continue it though. That Lindsey character she created is just wonderful.

As a 12-year beneficiary of a fine (read: scary) Catholic school education, I appreciate Kim Keltner's ability to go beyond the shallow (The Church is SO easy to make fun of there days!) to explore, in ways both funny and frightening, the life of a girl trapped in a world of cranky nuns and grotesque statuary.

I'm older than Lindsay, and sometimes smarter about romance. Sometimes I want to shake her. Don't cheat on Michael! It's the sign of a good read when I start talking to a book.

All in all, Wong Keltner has created a character I would want to spend time with; a real person, strong, girly, sexy, and funny as hell!

Three words came to mind as I read this book:
1. mopey
2. depressing
3. musty

I just don't understand why everyone is giving this book a good review. I am a Chinese woman who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area with a white boyfriend, I just did not see or agree with her perspective. To be honest, although I read the entire book, it was a complete drag. If it was not for my OCD need to finish all books, I would have promptly put this book away to the deepest darkest corner of my bookshelf. Maybe even tossed it in the trash.

There's a scene in the book where she's at an old brothel type place and its all musty filled with dead stuffed animals and she cant wait to get out.. it was exactly how I felt while reading this book... couldn't wait to put it down.

Did I beat the dead horse enough? Because that's what it felt like Lindsey (the main character) did in this book - her internal conflict on the possible cheating dragged on and on and on... and then fizzled to an unsatisfying ending. SNORE.

Bottom line: I really wanted to like it but I was so disappointed in this book. :(

This is a half way decent book but not as good as her Dim Sum of All Things.

First of all, I really enjoyed Keltner's first novel, "The Dim Sum of All Things." I thought it was amusing, clever, entertaining, and completely right-on in some of her observations of people and customs. With that said, I felt that "Buddha Baby" lacked the same freshness and energy that made her first novel so entertaining. I mean, it wasn't BAD but it wasn't great, either. I felt that some of the romantic scenes with Michael, although sweet, lagged. And the story line explaining why Yun Yun was so mean? It just seemed a stretch. But I did like her characterization of Dustin. He seemed delightfully unpredictable and untameable....I actually give the novel 3.5 stars.