The Book of Salt: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Monique Truong (Author) "OF THAT DAY I have two photographs and, of course, my memories..." (more)
Key Phrases: Miss Toklas, Anh Minh, Sweet Sunday Man (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
A mesmerizing narrative voice, an insider's view of a fabled literary household and the slow revelation of heartbreaking secrets contribute to the visceral impact of this first novel. From a few lines in The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book, Truong reimagines the Vietnamese cook who was hired by the famous residents at 27 rue de Fleurus. Bonh, as he calls himself, is an exile from his homeland, where he was denounced because of a homosexual relationship and banished by his brutal father. After three years at sea, Bonh ends up in Paris, where he answers Toklas's ad ("Two American ladies wish...") and enters the household of Gertrude Stein. The story begins in 1934 when the women he calls "my Mesdames" are about to tour America, and Bnh fears he'll be cast adrift once again. Flashbacks reveal his loneliness and guilt, his doomed love affairs (he enjoys a brief tryst with Ho Chi Minh, whom he knows only as "the man on the bridge") and his sadness at having abandoned his mother and his native land. The tone throughout is poignant, lightened by Bnh's subversive wit; for all his bitterness and resentment, he is a captivating narrator, as adept at describing Stein's literary salon as the contents of Toklas's kitchen. If Truong sometimes stretches the range of Bonh's understanding and powers of observation, interpreting even the thoughts of Stein herself, the narrative rings with emotional authenticity. Truong's supple prose is permeated with sensual detail, reminiscent of A Debt to Pleasure in its evocation of the erotic possibilities of food. But it is her intuitive understanding of the condition of exile-"the pure, sea salt sadness of the outcast"-that infuses her novel with richness and beauty.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Drawing inspiration from a fleeting reference in the Alice B. Toklas Cook Book (1954) to two "Indochinese" men who at one point cooked for Toklas and Gertrude Stein, Truong has concocted a delectable fictional memoir. Faced with the decision about whether to accompany Stein and Toklas to America, return to Vietnam, or remain in France, Binh, the Vietnamese cook who has labored for the unconventional ladies he has dubbed "The Steins," for about five years, reflects back on his troubled life and times. Interspersing his own story with that of his illustrious employers, Binh meanders back and forth through time, recounting his youthful misadventures in Vietnam, his time toiling as a galley hand aboard a sailing vessel, and his years spent cooking for the Steins and indulging in the joys and perils of the seamier side of Parisian nightlife. Using salt as a metaphor for "food, sweat, tears and the sea," and interweaving the narrative with suggestions of ingredients, recipes, and exotic dishes, Truong provides a savory debut novel of unexpected depth and emotion. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; First Edition edition (April 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618304002
• ISBN-13: 978-0618304004
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #674,576 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a sumptuous, sensuous feast of words, April 6, 2003

By	Fran Sepler "inhaler of great books" (Minnesota United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The first person account of the household cook hired by Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein serves up a tale of culture, food, family and sexuality on a bed of beautiful language.

"Thin Bin," as Gertudestein (one word, in his parlance) calls him is a narrator into a world of his own making. Binh,is a product of a deeply rigid and malevolent father and a devoted mother whose self sacrifice gave Bin both a perspective on life and sense of isolation that shapes his narrative. Set against the backdrop of Vietnam under the french, the smells, tastes, rituals and traditions give the reader a sense of time and place that is heat and spice, water lily and devastation.

At an early age, Binh joins his brother in the kitchen of the French Governor General, where the art of food becomes work and avocation. The role of power and nationality and the tension between colonialism and identity play out in the foods demanded, called for against the natural inclinations of the ingredients aned the preparers. The description of preparing a sabayon in Vietnamese heat is rich and heady with cultural depth. When the head chef leaves he is replaced by another Frenchman, rather than a native, and the imperious replacement variously dominates and seduces Binh, whose sexuality plays as an emerging subtext throughout the book.

Once his relationship with the chef is discovered, Binh flees in shame for a prolonged sea voyage, and finds himself in Paris, where he cooks for a variety of clients. In fact, his very identity becomes blended with his ability to feed those who will hire him to do so:
"...I scramble to seek shelter in the kitchens of those who will take me. Every kitchen is a homecoming...a familiar story that I can embellish with saffron, cardomom, bay laurel and lavender. In their heat and in their steam, I allow myself to believe that it is the sheer speed of my hands, the flawless measurement of my eyes, the science of my tongue that is rewarded..."

Eventually, he answers an ad that begins "two American ladies wish to hire..." and becomes so much more than just a cook to Stein and Toklas, with insights into their special love for one another, and they trading off on his discretion and cooking genius for his own frailties and imperfections.

For food lovers, this book is an inhalation and a taste of everything that makes the difference between cooking and cuisine. For lovers, it is the sensual wording of touch and proximity. For the literary, it is an insight into the imagined life of Toklas and Stein as lovers and creators of literary works. For those looking for cross-cultural storytelling, it is the bridge betweeen Vietnam, France and America that results in a crossroad of Binh at the Gare in Paris, deciding whether to go to America with his sponsors, to stay in Paris where he has found lovers, or to go to Vietnam, where his story began and his identity belongs.

This book is spellbinding, compelling, beautfully written. I read it slowly because I knew as soon as I finished I would regret losing the voice, the sensuality and the depth of Binh. A masterpiece!

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars strong 3 but overly-effusive language drowns story a bit, September 27, 2004

By	B. Capossere (Rochester, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The Book of Salt has as its premise a hook that is bound to grab those who like books about books or authors. Its narrator is "thin binh" as he is called by Gertrude Stein and the novel seems to promise an interior look at the lives of Stein and Toklas. Anyone searching for that book here will be disappointed, however. While there are some great moments of characterization with regards to the famous duo, they really are a minor sidestory. The story truly is Binh's--how he got from Vietnam to his position as cook to "the Steins" as he refers to them and what he will do while they head off to America. The fact that it is his story isn't necessarily a bad decision, but the reader looking for more on the literary/artistic world one first thinks of upon hearing Gertrude Stein needs to be forewarned.
That put aside, the Book of Salt is a good book, but one burdened somewhat by the author's predilection for soupy, dense language. If one wants to continue the food metaphor started by the author herself (and I promise to do so just this once), then the novel is overspiced, the author lacking a bit in the light deftness needed to be a superb cook. Some of the language is truly beautiful, some will sweep you along, but there is no moderation in its use and so the book often, though not always, sinks underneath its linguistic weight.
The plot is interesting and compelling enough. Binh's story is told through interrupted flashbacks which help maintain suspense and answers the reader would like to have our slowly teased out of the narrative--what happened to drive him from home, what happened to several of his relationships, what will happen when the Steins go to America--does he join them, stay in Paris, or return home in answer to his brother's request?
A few scenes are perhaps a bit contrived, the food metaphor more often so, but these are relatively minor flaws in the whole. Binh's character and that of his mother stand out as wonderful creations, three-dimensional characters for whom the reader truly feels something. And if the Steins are more often in the background, as mentioned, there are still some wonderfully telling moments, often small but sharp.
It's hard to fault a book too much for its effusiveness, especially one where the other elements such as plot and character are so solid, thus the strong three as the recommendation. And I would happily pick up a second book by the author in hopes that the same intensity of language is there if not its frequency. Well-recommended with a few caveats.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Smooth and strong writing, perhaps lacking seasoning?, April 24, 2005

By	C. Gilbert "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Book of Salt: A Novel (Paperback)

I would tend to agree with the reviewer who gave The Book of Salt a strong 3-star rating. I think in the end I liked it a little bit more than that, so came down on the side of a weak 4-star review.

The Book of Salt is the first novel-length work by Truong. It has a fascinating concept. We know from history that Stein and Toklas had at different points two chefs from "Indochine". Nothing more is known. Truong picks up that point of unknown and spins it into a novel about love, identity, home and food.

The most successful thing about the book is its meditation on the relationship between the subject of the story and the teller of a story. Binh is at his most interesting when it is clear that he is as unreliable as Stein at telling his own past. The layers of narration that Truong creates are fascinating and finely drawn. Whatever the flaws that the book might have, I found it delightful to read for this alone.

The Book of Salt is less successful at investing Binh with enough of a character to really give the book depth. He is more a collection of traits than a person in his own right. It is not just his audience in Paris and his family back home who are projecting their issues and needs onto Binh, in the end it is the author herself. This strange shallowness is made more obvious by all of the well-written but self-indulgent prosody exploring the images of food and love.

In all, a fine first novel, and one that makes me want to read the second. The Book of Salt should appeal to readers with a taste for smart historical fiction or foodies with an eye for good description.