Waylaid [Paperback]

Ed Lin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 2002

Description: Waylaid is the story of a Chinese American boy who struggles to grow up in the grip of an overcharged sexual environment. With a daily routine that involves renting out rooms to johns and hookers at his parents' sleazy hotel, the narrator loses the concepts of friendship, family, and childhood. As he pursues his all-consuming quest to lose his virginity, issues of race, class, and sex cripple his sense of self-worth. It is a story told with a Gen-X-style bleak humor that doesn't pander to conventional notions of immigrant narrative. Waylaid doesn't cut a wide swath through Asian American literature. It is a switchblade in the gut to stories of over-achievement and success in America that ignore the human cost.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The unnamed narrator of Lin's brilliant debut is the 12-year-old son of Taiwanese immigrant parents who own a rundown motel on the New Jersey coast. Catering to impecunious old men in the winter, to higher-paying "Bennys" (stands for Bayonne, Elizabeth, Newark, and New York--these customers' hometowns) in the summer, and to hookers' johns year-round, it is no place to grow up in, but it is what his parents have chosen to succeed in, in America. The boy works the front desk and does chores whenever he isn't in school or asleep. Newly postpubescent, big for his age, and egged on by a friendly Benny ("Girls were all over me when I was like eight," he boasts), the boy makes getting laid his prime objective between Benny seasons. As he progresses toward his goal, Lin carefully reveals, through him, what making it in America can entail for even bright, ambitious newcomers. Awash in a sea of stupidity and venality, the boy, neither stupid nor venal, seems bent on more than hauling his ashes, and after his father suffers a stroke, and relatives come from Taiwan to keep the motel afloat, he looks like a prevailer, not just a survivor. Lin's unsentimental, purely realist--not naturalist, not socialist, not postmodernist--novel raises hopes that American fiction may yet grow up. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Ed Lin. . .has the eye and wit of a pro....Waylaid will make you laugh and cringe. -- Playboy, October

The novel may work for fans of Suburban Bleak films like "Buffalo 66." -- San Francisco Chronicle, September 15, 2002

Waylaid is like a nihilistic -- but enjoyable -- detour on a journey from nothing to nowhere. -- Time Asia Magazine, September 16, 2002

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Kaya/Muae (May 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885030320
• ISBN-13: 978-1885030320
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #648,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Waylaid, Way Cool., June 13, 2002

By 

Keyglow (New York,, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Waylaid (Paperback)

An outstanding first novel!
In Waylaid, Ed Lin deftly navigates the delicate balance between the ire and angst of growing up Asian in a non Asian society with the beauty and poignancy of just growing up. His nameless protagonist begins a journey of self discovery that is as heartbreaking as it is hilarious, as honest as it is raw. Set in a "No tell Motel" on the Jersey shore, Lin's twelve year old main character finds himself (as we all have at some point in our lives) caught between the rock that is every American man's dream, and the hard place that is every American boy's fantasy. This is a wonderful novel whose universal message should be read and enjoyed by every American, Asian or no. Props to Ed Lin!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Living The American (Bad) Dream, March 29, 2003

By 

Louis N. Gruber "Author of Jay" (Lexington, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Waylaid (Paperback)

The nameless narrator of this short novel is a twelve-year old Chinese-American boy who is struggling to grow up and finish school, while working in the decrepit seaside motel run by his parents. The motel is a dingy and depressing place, catering to transients and the down-and-out. Our narrator attends school and works at the motel and dreams of having his first sexual experience.

Not a novel of complex ideas but of sad and desperate yearnings. Things get worse when the young man's father has a stroke, and the little family is no longer able to maintain the business. What will happen to them now?

Despite its dreary theme, the book is endearingly funny, with snappy dialogue, and unexpected tragicomic scenes. It paints a searing picture of loneliness, struggle, and alientation--the American dream's dark side. It is well written and well worth reading. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WAY COOL!!!, August 2, 2003

By 

Jennifer Zwicker (FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Waylaid (Paperback)

I picked this book up at the library as I remembered seeing stuff that was on the cover before, I live in NJ too, as this book is set in NJ. I loved this book, it ranks right up there with Green Grass Grace by Shawn McBride. I read it all in 3 hours. Great book. A great read for a rainy afternoon or a hot day at the beach.