On the Back Lot of Life Book Reviews

On the Back Lot of Life by Dinah Lee Küng Book Summary

From the author of the Orange Prize-nominated "A Visit From Voltaire" and the comic novel, "Love and the Art of War" comes a heartwarming and funny short story about the scorching August morning her mother died in Los Angeles.
A woman who loved living among the various "types" who might have walked out of a Central Casting directory or a soap-opera audition call, the departed mother bequeaths her bereaved daughter the legacy of laughter throughout a bewildering day.

The award-winning writer Küng has published six novels after twenty years of reporting from Asia, (primarily China and Hong Kong,) for newspapers and magazines, including the Economist, BusinessWeek, the International Herald Tribune and National Public Radio.

Her latest social comedy, "Love and the Art of War", was published in all formats, in January 2012.

"A Visit From Voltaire" was nominated for the ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION in 2004. This is a quirky autobiographical comedy in which the phantom of Voltaire haunts her farmhouse as she tries to settle into life in Switzerland.

Her Geneva novel, "Under Their Skin", is a sophisticated love triangle story using the metaphor of surfaces, reflections, skin and scars, to examine what lies underneath appearances. The interplay between the captivating artistry of a birthmarked violinist, the precision and sterility of her doctor's laser clinic, and the determined workaholism of his childless wife at the World Health Organization in leprosy relief makes for an uncomfortable examination of conventional morality and the meaning of marriage.

"Love and the Art of War" returns readers to the light domestic tone of "A Visit From Voltaire"; in London's leafy NW1, a middle-aged librarian joins an evening class of bumbling businessmen to study the wiles of the ancient Chinese warlords, with the aim of reconquering, not the corner office, but the love of her life.

Under the name D. L. Kung, the trilogy of "The Handover Mysteries" was re-issued as e-books and new paperback editions from Eyes and Ears Editions. They were voted as three of the "Top Ten Mysteries, Thrillers and Suspense of 2011" list by Goodreads members.

Küng's signature in all her novels is an interweaving of East and West themes, placing domestic comedy or melodrama in a well-researched historical or political context. Her stories are informed by a Catholic upbringing and a sensitivity to cross-cultural tensions with an often sharp and mordant sense of humor.

Küng did her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Asian/Chinese studies and maintains a lively interest in Asian affairs. She's a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City and an active advocate for Chinese writers in detention through PEN Centre Suisse Romand. She is the wife of a retired delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the mother of three adult children.

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