A Good Fall, Ha Jin
A Good Fall, Ha Jin
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A Good Fall
Stories

Author: Ha Jin

Narrator: a full cast, Tai Sammons, Ray Porter, Robertson Dean, Richard Powers, Anthony Heald, Kate Reading, Eddie Lopez, Malcolm Hillgartner, Bernadette Dunne, Carrington MacDuffie, Scott Brick

Unabridged: 7 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/24/2009

Synopsis

National Book Award-winner Ha Jin brings us a collection of stories that delve into the experiences of Chinese immigrants in America. All of Ha Jin’s characters struggle in situations that stir their conflicting desires to remain attached to their native land and traditions while also exploring their newfound social and economic freedoms.A lonely composer takes comfort in the songs of his girlfriend’s parakeet; a group of young children declare their wish to change their names so that they might sound more “American,” unaware of how deeply this will sadden their grandparents; a Chinese professor of English attempts to defect with the help of a reluctant former student. In each of these deeply moving, acutely insightful, and often strikingly humorous stories we are reminded again of the storytelling prowess of this superb writer.

About Ha Jin

HA JIN left his native China in 1985 to attend Brandeis University. He is the author of eight novels, four story collections, three volumes of poetry, and a book of essays. He has received the National Book Award, two PEN/Faulkner Awards, the PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award, the Asian American Literary Award, and the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. In 2014 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in the Boston area and is director of the creative writing program at Boston University.

About Tai Sammons

Tai Sammons earned her degree in theater from Southern Oregon University in Ashland, where she worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. This award-winning actress currently resides upstate in Portland, with her beloved black pug, Oscar.

About Ray Porter

Ray Porter is a prolific voice actor that has recorded for over 100 audio books and dozens of television series, video games and video shorts.  Among his wide variety of audiobook credits are The Silver Linings Playbook, The Black Hole War, and the Joe Ledger series. He claims, “With every book I’ve done, I have found that the author has a voice and if I can just do my best to stay out of the way of that voice, then the writer will convey what he’s trying to put across. So for me, it’s really more about enabling the text and what the author is trying to say.”

About Robertson Dean

Robertson Dean has recorded hundreds of audiobooks in most every genre. He's been nominated for several Audie Awards, won nine Earphones Awards, and was named one of AudioFile magazine's Best Voices of 2010. He lives in Los Angeles, where he records books and acts in film, TV, and (especially) on stage.

About Richard Powers

Richard Powers has published thirteen novels. He is a MacArthur Fellow and received the National Book Award. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Overstory, and Bewilderment was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

About Anthony Heald

Anthony Heald, an Audie Award–winning narrator, has earned Tony nominations and an Obie Award for his theater work; appeared in television’s Law & Order, The X-Files, Miami Vice, and Boston Public; and starred as Dr. Frederick Chilton in the 1991 Oscar-winning film The Silence of the Lambs. He has also won numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards for his narrations.

About Kate Reading

Kate Reading is the recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards and has been named by AudioFile magazine as a “Voice of the Century,” as well as the Best Voice in Science Fiction & Fantasy in 2008 and 2009 and Best Voice in Biography & Culture in 2010. She has narrated works by such authors as Jane Austen, Robert Jordan, Edith Wharton, and Sophie Kinsella. Reading has performed at numerous theaters in Washington D.C. and received a Helen Hayes Award for her performance in Aunt Dan and Lemon. AudioFile magazine reports that, "With subtle control of characters and sense of pacing, Kate’s performances are a consistent pleasure."

About Eddie Lopez

Eddie Lopez, a northern California native, earned his BFA in theater from the California Institute of the Arts. He has worked professionally in Los Angeles as an actor and is currently with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He began recording audiobooks for family road trips at the age of eight on his home cassette deck.

About Malcolm Hillgartner

Malcolm Hillgartner is a professional actor, playwright, and songwriter. In 2007, he began recording audiobooks and has since recorded more than 175 titles. He has won multiple Earphones Awards and was named a Best Voice of 2013 by AudioFile magazine.

About Bernadette Dunne

Bernadette Dunne is the winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and has twice been nominated for the prestigious Audie Award. She studied at the Royal National Theatre in London and the Studio Theater in Washington, DC, and has appeared at the Kennedy Center and off Broadway.

About Carrington MacDuffie

Carrington MacDuffie is a voice actor, recording artist, poet, and spoken-word performer who has narrated over two hundred audiobooks, received numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards, and has been a frequent finalist for the Audie Award, including for her original audiobook Many Things Invisible. In addition to her narration work, she has released an album of original songs entitled Only an Angel. She has recited and performed her poetry at venues ranging from L.A. coffeehouses to the museums and poetry festivals of the Northwest. She served for several years as poetry editor of the literary journal Square Lake, where she enjoyed discovering and publishing unknown writers alongside of literary notables.

About Scott Brick

Scott Brick is a renowned actor, screenwriter, and audiobook narrator. Born in Santa Barbara, he studied acting and writing at UCLA. He began narrating audiobooks in 2000 and has since narrated over 600 titles. He has earned several accolades for his narrating talents, including two Audie Awards.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jim

[Revised, edited, pictures added 4/3/22] These stories of Chinese Americans and Chinese immigrants in America are mostly set in the ‘new Chinatown’ in Flushing in New York City. Unlike the collection of stories of Bengali immigrants in Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, who were mostly all upper-cl......more

Goodreads review by Renee

It must be a good omen if the first book I read in 2010 has a five star merit! Actually, I was somewhere between four and five stars, but the simplicity, honesty, attention to detail and beauty of this collection of short stories was a fantastic way to begin the new year. Primarily these stories foc......more

Goodreads review by Josh

I'm an unabashed Ha Jin lover, so of course I enjoyed this book. His books appeal to me because they give me a peek into the mindset of a culture that seems utterly alien in some respects, but no different in others. Ha Jin's characters have the same insecurities, desires and fears as anyone else, b......more

Quotes

“Quiet, careful, restrained prose—prose whose absence of flourish can, at times, make it all the more eloquent.” New York Times Book Review 

“In short, the storyteller’s art is richly on display here. Ha Jin has a singular talent for snaring a reader. His premises are gripping, his emotional bedrock hard and true…captivating.” Washington Post

“This may be Ha Jin’s best work yet, his stories often ascending to the mystical penumbra we expect of Singer, Malamud, or O’Connor.” Huffington Post

“[Jin] is a master of the straightforward line; he makes the most of his sparseness…no-frills sentences about Chinese immigrants who lead no-frills lives in New York.” New Republic

“Jin employs a simple, workmanlike style to match the lives of his characters. But instead of feeling flat-footed, his unvarnished prose adds a no-nonsense charm to the stories.” Chicago Sun-Times

“Ha Jin’s masterful storytelling persists—meticulous, droll, convincing, populated with memorable characters—not to mention the indelible portrait of an immigrant life he gives us. What is also consistent is his prowess to study and reveal, often with heartfelt humor, the compromised and damaged heart and soul and the impact of time and history on ordinary people.” San Francisco Chronicle

“National Book Award–winner Ha Jin continues his intimate, up-close look at Chinese immigrant life in A Good Fall with twelve stories…all artfully turned out in Jin’s quietly seismic style.” Elle

“A collection of sublime moments…Perhaps Jin’s point is that despite all the suffering and turmoil involved in living in America, the strong may triumph here after all. It’s a message worth hearing these days.” Denver Post

“His best work so far, this collection includes immortal stories of the immigrant experience, comparable to the best of Malamud and Singer.” Kansas City Star, Top 100 Books

“In this new collection of stories, former Emory University professor Ha Jin reflects on the life of Chinese immigrants in America, crafting each fleeting portrait with a spare precision and attention to detail uncanny for a relative newcomer to the English language.” Atlanta magazine

Awards

  • Kansas City Star Top 100 Book
  • Indie Next List
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