Excess Baggage Author Karen Ma Discusses Novel at Eastwind Books of Berkeley Today

SAN FRANCISCO, CA

After promoting her novel at book fairs in Shanghai and Beijing, Excess Baggage author Karen Ma arrives next week for her first American book tour.

Eastwind Books of Berkeley hosts Karen Ma tonight, July 17 at 7:00 PM. The event will feature a short reading, an author-led discussion, and book signing. In San Francisco, Karen will also be interviewed by Asia Society Director of Programs Robert Bullock.

Excess Baggage chronicles two Chinese sisters, one raised in China during the Cultural Revolution and the other in Japan during the freewheeling years of bubble capitalism. When they reunite as adults in Tokyo, the sisters circle warily. Fueled by family lies and secrets, their initial distrust grows until each is forced to confront a fundamental question: what is the meaning of home when your roots aren't secure?

Barbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, writes, "I couldn't put down this immensely readable first novel about a dysfunctional Chinese family living in Japan... The book is great fun and at the same time packed with wisdom about the struggle between traditional Asian families and the imperative to get rich."

Karen Ma has lived in Asia for twenty years working as a writer and journalist. She has written for a number of international publications, including The Japan Times, International Herald Tribune, and South China Morning Post. Karen is also the author of The Modern Madame Butterfly (Tuttle, 1996).

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Amazon Link to the book : http://www.amazon.com/Excess-Baggage-Novel-Karen-Ma/dp/0835100464/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1404862961&sr=8-5&keywords=excess+baggage
Eastwind Books of Berkeley: http://www.asiabookcenter.com/index.html
Eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/talking-immigration-and-identity-in-asia-excess-baggage-author-karen-ma-tickets-12158978833?aff=es2&rank=0