{"product_id":"the-italy-letters-9781685891305","title":"The Italy Letters","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Vi Khi Nao's fictional language is full of magical slippages ... an esoteric sadness seeps up through surface deadpan and pizzazz.\" --Jonathan Lethem \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA mesmerizing epistolary tale of a sensual queer love affair set against the backdrop of Las Vegas' gritty underbelly. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Italy Letters\u003c\/i\u003e is a slim, powerful shot of literary fantasia from one of America's best-kept secrets. Long an underground favorite, visionary writer Vi Khi Nao weaves an unforgettable and highly distinctive story of a love affair suffused with longing, erotic passion, and heartbreak--all while painting a picture of the gritty underside of Las Vegas. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis beautiful and mesmerizing novel by a queer Vietnamese American writer is a brilliant and unclassifiable work of fiction that takes the form of a series of letters written by the unnamed narrator to her lover in Italy ... part of a stream-of-consciousness narrative that is by turns poignant, bawdy, funny, and disturbing--and often beautifully poetic. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlong the way, the story touches on the immigrant experience, LGBTQIA identity, social class, writing, betrayal, sex, and homesickness. The result is an authentically distinctive piece of writing from a writer on the cusp of wide acclaim.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVi Khi Nao was born in Long Kh?nh, Vietnam, and immigrated to the United States at a young age. Her work includes poetry, fiction, film, and cross-genre collaboration, and has been featured in periodicals such as \u003ci\u003eConjunctions\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books, Chicago Review, Glimmer Train\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eBafller, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMcSweeney's\u003c\/i\u003e, and in \u003ci\u003eThe Best American Nonrequired Reading\u003c\/i\u003e anthology. A former Black Mountain Institute fellow, she lives in Iowa City.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Melville House Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50875378794770,"sku":"9781685891305","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_ba8eb2c1-36b8-4720-a705-9eb407c18ec9.jpg?v=1738286296","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-italy-letters-9781685891305","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}