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Unpolished Gem Kindle Edition
by Alice Pung (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 149 ratings
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This story does not begin on a boat. Nor does it contain any wild swans or falling leaves.
In a wonderland called Footscray, a girl named Alice and her Chinese-Cambodian family pursue the Australian Dream – Asian style. Armed with an ocker accent, Alice dives head- first into schooling, romance and the getting of wisdom. Her mother becomes an Aussie battler – an outworker, that is. Her father embraces the miracle of franchising and opens an electrical-appliance store. And every day her grandmother blesses Father Government for giving old people money.
Unpolished Gem is a book rich in comedy, a loving and irreverent portrait of a family, its everyday struggles and bittersweet triumphs. With it, Australian writing gains an unforgettable new voice.
Alice Pung is an award-winning writer based in Melbourne. She is the bestselling author of the memoirs Unpolished Gem and Her Father’s Daughter, and the essay collection Close to Home, as well as the editor of the anthologies Growing Up Asian in Australia and My First Lesson. Her first novel, Laurinda, won the Ethel Turner Prize at the 2016 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. One Hundred Days is her most recent novel.
Winner of the Australian Newcomer of the Year in the 2007 Australian Book Industry Awards
Shortlisted in the 2007 Australian Book Industry Awards, the 2007 NSW Premier's Literary Awards, the 2007 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, the 2007 Age Book of the Year Awards, the 2006 Colin Roderick Award, and the 2007 The Westfield/Waverley Library Award for Literature.
‘Unpolished Gem is a delightful read – a funny, touching debut from a writer we’re sure to hear more from.’ —Courier Mail
‘... offer(s) a rare bicultural vantage point on Australian multiculturalism’ —Sydney Morning Herald
‘There’s something striking on every page of Unpolished Gem.’ —Helen Garner
‘A memoir so vivid that images from it linger behind your eyelids.’ —The Age
‘Alice Pung is a gem. Her voice is the real thing.’ —Amy Tan
‘Unpolished Gem is virtuoso storytelling.’ —The Australian
‘... intelligent and touching’ —The Herald Sun
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Print length
272 pages
Language
English
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Product description
Review
?Alice Pung is a gem. Her voice is the real thing.? ?
Amy Tan
?This is a sophisticated and fiercely intelligent book? There's something striking on every page.?
?Helen Garner, author of "Postcards from Surfers"
aAlice Pung is a gem. Her voice is the real thing.a a
Amy Tan
aThis is a sophisticated and fiercely intelligent booka] Thereas something striking on every page.a
aHelen Garner, author of "Postcards from Surfers"
About the Author
Alice Pung is a writer, editor, teacher and lawyer based in Melbourne. Born a month after her Chinese parents fled from Cambodia to Australia as asylum seekers from Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge Regime, Alice has used her shared family's experiences to write stories that captivate all readers.
She has won numerous awards including the 2007 Newcomer of the Year Award in the Australia Book Industry Awards for her first book Unpolished Gem. Her next book Her Father's Daughter won the Western Australia Premier's Book Award for Non Fiction, and it was also shortlisted for the Premier's Literary Awards in Victoria and New South Wales, and nominated also in the Queensland Literary Awards. Laurinda, Alice's first novel, was published in 2014 and was one of Readings' Top 100 bestselling books for the year. She is writing four books around the character Marly for Penguin's Our Australian Girl series.
Alice's writing has appeared in many notable publications including the Monthly, the Age, Meanjin, Best Australian Stories and Best Australian Essays. Alice edited Growing Up Asian in Australia, a collection of personal accounts, essays, short stories and poetry which is currently a set text for the VCE English context on Identity and Belonging.
Alice lives with her husband at Janet Clarke Hall at the University of Melbourne, where she is currently the Artist in Residence.
http-//www.alicepung.com
Product details
ASIN : B009WDY8SQ
Publisher : Black Inc.; New title edition (31 August 2006)
Language : English
File size : 808 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
Print length : 272 pagesBest Sellers Rank: 50,247 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)11 in Emigration & Immigration
15 in Emigration & Immigration Studies (Books)
16 in Emigrants & Immigrants BiographiesCustomer Reviews:
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 149 ratings
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Alice Pung
Alice Pung is an Australian author whose award-winning books span the genres of memoir, non-fiction, anthology, young adult and children's fiction. Alice's first book Unpolished Gem won the 2007 Australian Book Industry Award for Newcomer of the Year. Her second book, Her Father's Daughter, won the 2011 Western Australia Premier's Literary Award, and her first novel, Laurinda won the 2016 Ethel Turner Prize. Laurinda is published in the United States as Lucy and Linh, and has been a Kirkus-starred book.
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Top reviews
Top reviews from Australia
Nick Burningham
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb writingReviewed in Australia on 19 March 2021
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Alice Pung writes with incomparable charm, humour and honesty. The writing also has a wonderful light touch – one is deeply moved, but definitely not pushed or shoved.
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Judith Bellewood
4.0 out of 5 stars Four StarsReviewed in Australia on 4 April 2015
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Funny and poignant
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FiCo
3.0 out of 5 stars Suit teenagers asking for a broader view of new AustraliansReviewed in Australia on 27 August 2018
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It is good to be reminded of the struggle many people have endured to ensure a safe life in another country. This story shows us the struggle doesn't stop there, as parents struggle with a new culture and children try to fit into both - their traditional home life and the new country life. A nice insight into this scenario - not too taxing and a quick read. Very suitable for teenagers.
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Omoba
5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly what I expectedReviewed in Australia on 16 January 2020
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Great product and delivery time.
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Sydney1981
3.0 out of 5 stars Charming...Reviewed in Australia on 16 July 2017
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A charming memoir of growing up in Australia.
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Marg
3.0 out of 5 stars the novelReviewed in Australia on 28 March 2015
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Not as good as her later novel.
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Melbourne Gal
3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting Asian view of life in Melbourne in the 21st centuryReviewed in the United States on 26 August 2013
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This was an interesting biographical story of Alice Pung's childhood in Melbourne's west. I wasn't engrossed in the early stages of the book, but as it developed it drew me in. The struggles Alice's mother had with the english language, her work and subsequent depression were both touching and enlightening. The emptiness her aunt felt after achieving the dream of the grand house in the suburbs was also very sad. Alice's teenage years juggling Aussie values with those of her Cambodian parents brought back memories of growing up in the 60s. Her parents' values were similar to my parents' values fifty years ago.
Unpolished gem is a worthwhile read for Asian immigrants, Australians interested in multi-culturalism and Melburnians in general, particularly those who have lived in Footscray, Braybrook, Avondale Heights and Springvale.
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Andres
3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not excellent..Reviewed in the United States on 18 January 2014
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Unpolished gem is a great book to understand the differences between two worlds completely different described by someone who lived them by herself. But, some of the topics treated in here tend to be normal in all kinds of cultures, such as doubt, depression and anxiety in a teenager behaviour, and even though the author blames her culture for those emotions, falling in an unintentional and unnecessary "stereotypification". Anyway, I personally enjoyed reading it, and I feel like every international student and worker that is feeling nervous or afraid of this new country should read it too.
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Theatrered
5.0 out of 5 stars An easy read AND well written.Reviewed in the United States on 16 November 2013
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This isn't a rags to riches story but an honest account of one family's hardships and joys at relocating to a foreign country. In this case they are Cambodian Chinese relocating to Western Melbourne. The descriptions are vivid and full of a delicate humour.
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Sue Beshara
3.0 out of 5 stars ... immigrating into a new culture - localised so I enjoyed the Melbourne Victoria Aust references - a terrific tale ...Reviewed in the United States on 31 May 2015
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Humorous and insightful take on immigrating into a new culture - localised so I enjoyed the Melbourne Victoria Aust references - a terrific tale of growing up in this colourful extended family
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Diana Mepsted
3.0 out of 5 stars The blending of cultures.Reviewed in the United States on 3 November 2013
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A simple story which shows the problems of migrant families immersed in Australian culture but stil,l against a very different cultural background, about to make a success of life.
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