In its October 8, 2010 issue,
The New York Times featured in its “Paper Cuts” book-blogs section an e-mail conversation between Miguel Syjuco, the Filipino author of the Asian Man Prize-winning novel
Ilustrado, and
Times books blogger Jennifer B. McDonald. The interview came out in conjunction with Syjuco’s debut as a reviewer for the
Times’ Book Review section, in which he reviewed the novel
How to Read the Air by the award-winning Ethiopian-American writer Dinaw Mengestu. Both Syjuco and Mengestu use their respective immigrant experience to explore the themes of family, homeland, politics, and identity.
Read the New York Times’ Reviewer Spotlight on Miguel Syjuco now!Read Miguel Syjuco’s review of Dinaw Mengestu’s How to Read the Air now!Read the earlier review in the Forum of Miguel Syjuco’s Ilustrado now!ABOUT DINAW MENGESTU:Dinaw Mengestu is the author of
The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, a
Los Angeles Times bestseller and Seattle Reads pick of 2008, as well the recently published novel
How To Read the Air. He was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1978. In 1980, he immigrated to the United States with his mother and sister, joining his father, who had fled Ethiopia during the Red Terror. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and Columbia University’s MFA program in fiction and the recipient of a 2006 fellowship in fiction from the New York Foundation for the Arts and a 5 Under 35 Award from the National Book Foundation in 2007. He has written for
Rolling Stone and
Harper's, among other publications. He lives in New York City.