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A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain: Stories [Paperback]

Robert Olen Butler
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)

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Book Description

May 10, 2001
Robert Olen Butler's lyrical and poignant collection of stories about the aftermath of the Vietnam War and its impact on the Vietnamese was acclaimed by critics across the nation and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1993. Now Grove Press is proud to reissue this contemporary classic by one of America's most important living writers, in a new edition of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain that includes two subsequently published stories -- "Salem" and "Missing" -- that brilliantly complete the collection's narrative journey, returning to the jungles of Vietnam.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Vietnam War continues to play itself out in fiction, autobiography, and history books, but no American author has captured the experiences of the Vietnamese themselves--and caught their voices--more tellingly than Robert Olen Butler, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain. The 15 stories collected here, all written in the first person, blend Vietnamese folklore, the terrible, lingering memories of war, American pop culture and family drama. Butler's literary ventriloquism, as he mines the experiences of a people with a great literary tradition of their own, is uncanny; but his talents as a writer of universal truths is what makes this a collection for the ages. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Butler's 15 stories, set in the Vietnamese enclaves of suburban New Orleans, capture the voices of people who have lost their homeland and are trying to adapt to an alien culture. Named by PW as one of the best books of 1992.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Grove Press; Reprint edition (May 10, 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0802137989
  • ISBN-13: 978-0802137982
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

These stories are haunting, melancholy and beautiful. David Hutton  |  10 reviewers made a similar statement
This book won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Literature. Sheabody Butter  |  8 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was browsing through Pulitzer Prize winning books when I came upon this book. Admittedly, being a Vietnamese immigrant, I was very skeptical that a white man can ever capture the true experiences of the hardships of coming to America. I was quickly stunned at how some of the stories jumped right out of the pages and poured back into the back of my memories. It didn't seem like I was reading a fictional account of Vietnamese assimilation; it was more than that, it was as if I was reading into the history of my time in America. Most notably of all the stories in the collection is the story of the American soldier trying furiously to bring his Vietnamese wife and daughter to America. As you read through his letters and realize his intentions, you can't help but feel frustrated for this man. It is no surprise that this book was a Pulitzer winner. It is that good.
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40 of 41 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars You won't believe the writer isn't Vietnamese February 9, 1999
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
When I first learned that Butler was a Caucasian man living in Louisiana, I was a little reticent about reading the book. As a Chinese immigrant, I have read numerous accounts of the "Asian experience" from the non-Asian perspective. Often times, the writers oversimplify their subjects' feelings and don't have a good sense of the material.

Nothing could be further from the truth about Butler's book. After I read it, I bought numerous copies and sent them to my friends. Butler has an acute understanding of the Vietnamese experience, and in particular, the immigrant experience in the US. How did he know these feelings? How did he get such a good grasp of the culture?

It is a extremely moving book. Several times I had to put the book down because I was so choked up. Butler is an incredible writer. Each chapter is a self-contained short story. Sometimes told from the perspective of a woman, other times a man. In either case, Butler's keen awareness of Vietnamese culture is apparent from the sensitivity of his stories.

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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb story collection on the essence of the Vietnamese September 18, 2003
Format:Paperback
In 1993, this book won the Pulitzer - and somehow I'd never heard of it till recently. With great sensitivity, Robert Olen Butler introduces us to the colorful lives of Vietnamese immigrants in Louisiana. This collection of inter-related short stories are told in many different voices: housewives, pregnant woman, a lonely businessman - and we grow to care about each one as a unique individual. Butler's writing in the voice of people of another culture feels so authentic because he served with army intelligence in Vietnam in 1971 and worked as an interpreter to Saigon's mayor.
Terrific collection.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Why did it have to end!
I purchased this book out of curiosity and am 100% glad I did as every 'story' told IS a masterpiece in its own. Read more
Published 27 days ago by Clive J. Payne
4.0 out of 5 stars Love and try to understand others
I like the way this American writer has fallen in love with a foreign country and its inhabitants .

This is an exceptional quality . Read more
Published 1 month ago by Antonio Andriollo
5.0 out of 5 stars 20 Years Later, Still a Prize!
Truly masterfully crafted tales, conveying essence and nuance. Each one is an emotional spelunking adventure, deep within the heart. Read more
Published 4 months ago by John C, Gray
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best works of literature written by a grandmaster of...
I recommended this book to a friend who is currently a 2nd-year graduate poetry student at the world-famous Iowa Writer's Workshop -- the number one writing program in the U.S. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Dr. Ervin Nieves
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written
The author does an exquisite job of providing a glimpse into Vietnamese culture and tradition as it has been transformed into modern day living in New Orleans and southern... Read more
Published 11 months ago by JLafayette
3.0 out of 5 stars Different Cover
I bought this for my friend. I didn't notice that the cover of the book I bought is different with what I saw on the web, but my friend said it's fine, same story, but in... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Anna
3.0 out of 5 stars No more war
As we deal in being a nation at war, it is sometimes good to reflect on the past.
Vietnam, a conflict whose scars still lie deep in America's psyche is of often... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Dr. Wilson Trivino
5.0 out of 5 stars American literary treasure
This book won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Literature. I read it once many years ago, shortly after it came out. This was the book I always wanted to write. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Sheabody Butter
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book
This is a wonderful book for anyone who really wants to understand the Vietnamese mind. Here they are living in Louisiana and caught between two worlds... Read more
Published on February 5, 2011 by Capt Carl
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful
I enjoyed this collection of stories about Vietnamese living in America after the war. A haunting, vivid protrayal of lives uprooted by conflict.
Published on September 7, 2010 by Joyce Harmon
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