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Unpolished Gem

By Alice Pung
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3.61 goodreads logo

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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung is a heartwarming memoir that delves into the experience of growing up as a first-generation Chinese-Cambodian in Melbourne. The narrative skillfully weaves together cultural challenges, family dynamics, and the search for identity in a vivid and authentic portrayal of the immigrant experience in Australia. With wit and insight, Pung explores the balance between tradition and modernity faced by many who straddle two worlds.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this engaging memoir if you're interested in stories about the immigrant experience, family dynamics, and cultural identity. With insightful and often humorous reflections, it explores life as a first-generation Australian, weaving together themes of ambition, tradition, and the quest for personal identity.

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Unpolished Gem

Offers a vivid and ironic sense of two worlds. Combines the story of Pung's life growing up in suburban Footscray, with the inherited stories of the women in her family.

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.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

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.

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.

'This is a sophisticated and fiercely intelligent book.' Helen Garner

'A memoir so vivid that images from it linger behind your eyelids.' The Age

'Unpolished Gem is virtuoso storytelling.' The Australian

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Alice Pung's Unpolished Gem receives high praise for its authenticity and clever storytelling. Authors like Amy Tan commend Pung's genuine voice, while Helen Garner highlights the book's intelligence and the memorable moments throughout.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781863951586

Publisher: Black Inc.

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 28 August 2006

Country: Australia

Imprint: Black Inc.

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 22.0mm

Width: 137.0mm

Height: 212.0mm

Weight: 316g

Pages: 288

Collections

Alice Pung Biography & Memoir History & Military Non-Fiction Penguin Books

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

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