RF Kuang's New Novel Takes On the Angst of a Diaspora Kid on a Study-Abroad Trip to Taipei

Save to wishlist Save to wishlist Taipei Story by RF Kuang $29 Bookshop.org $19 Amazon In RF Kuang's latest book Taipei Story, the genre of the campus novel outgrows its name. The novel follows Chinese-American college freshman Lily Chen, who leaves the pale, male, and Yale environs of New Haven, Connecticut, for an intensive Mandarin-language program in Taipei for the summer. While her own family has never stepped foot in Taiwan, Lily holds onto the belief that perfecting her Mandarin will finally reconcile the shortcomings of being a diaspora kid. And when it came to choosing a place to study the language, traveling to Taiwan conveniently didn't require her to apply for a visa. But on this quixotic mission to achieve total fluency, she finds that the gulf between her and her complicated family history won't simply mend itself through diligent study. Her presumptions quickly unravel as she seeks answers in the gaps between economy seats on the flight from Boston to Taipei; in the uncertain, stilting words of Chinese heritage speakers; and in arthouse cinemas and concert halls she's drawn to for the promise of blending in. From the seasonally inappropriate hot springs of Beitou to the glossy, souvenir-flogging halls of Taipei Taoyuan International Airport, the plot of this coming-of-age story doesn't shy away from the uncomfortable realities of traveling abroad. Compounded by the sudden passing of Lily's grandfather—which renders her initial motivation to study Mandarin moot—these follies only deepen beneath a veil of complicated mourning. And yet, they are also softened and forgiven with a grace that comes uniquely from allowing ourselves to be vulnerable in foreign places. Condé Nast Traveler recently spoke with Kuang about how home, identity, and being split between two places inspired Taipei Story, which is available in bookstores now. This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity. Walk us through your research itinerary for Taipei Story. The first place I looked was personal experience. When I started jotting down notes for what would become this book, I didn't know what it was going to be. I was just trying to make legible a tough time in my life when my Gong Gong passed away and I was in Taiwan. I was also in an intensive language program where I was wandering aimlessly around Taipei, meditating on [concepts of] home and cultural alienation. I wasn't walking around with a research agenda. I was just following crowds into places to see what they were seeing. If a long line of people was swarming, I would just join it. I would end up at screenings of movies I'd never heard of, or bookstores that I didn't know existed because I felt so blank, confused, and empty. I wanted somebody else to show me the answer to, 'what is your city?' and if I became a ghost in its wake, was there a way I could totally erase myself? A lot of the descriptions in the novel where Lily ends up going to a place by accident, like the National Concert Hall, are places I also encountered by accident. Then, I started thinking about turning all those notes into an exaggerated, fictionalized version of what this experience would be—like if I were even younger and more dim-witted about how the world works. I read a lot of the major modern Taiwanese authors [like Kaori Li, Bai Xianyong, Chen Yingzhen, Wu Ming-yi, and Yang Shaung-zi—all mentioned in the author's note and available in English translation] and wondered how they were thinking about home, identity, and being split between their mainland cultural heritage, and what it meant to be Taiwanese.