Chosen and the Beautiful

This novel allows us a window into them 1920s that I would never have imagined. The main character is Jordan, a tangential character in the Great Gatsby. This Jordan, however has a depth that I couldn’t have attributed to any of Fitzgeralds characters. Many of the events in the novels are similar, but enhanced here by the characterizations and the lush writing. A magical aspect is added to the story and it also builds the mood of the novel. Hones...read more

This book made me really feel the need to re-read The Great Gatsby, or, more to the point, made me wish I had paid better attention the three times I've already read it. Fortunately, I remembered enough to be able to glean the relevance of Nghi Vo's reinvention of the original.

Vo's imagination takes us to a 1920s New York where magic is real and Gatsby may or may not have literally sold his soul to the devil in order to win Daisy's heart. Here,...read more