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Khanh Ha is the author of Flesh (2012, Black Heron Press) and The Demon Who Peddled Longing (2014, Underground Voices). He is a five-time Pushcart nominee, a Best Indie Lit New England nominee, and the recipient of Greensboro Review’s 2014 ROBERT WATSON LITERARY PRIZE IN FICTION. His work, The Demon Who Peddled Longing, was honored by Shelf Unbound as a NOTABLE INDIE BOOK.
Reviewed by Tina Stanciu for Readers' Favorite
Following the story of a nineteen-year-old boy and his journey in search of the two brothers who abused and killed his cousin, The Demon Who Peddled Longing, set in post-war Vietnam, is a remarkable novel that offers readers a unique literary experience. Nam’s individuality is constructed by author Khanh Ha in a fascinating manner, from the first lines of the book to the very last ones. What started as a quest to find the two brothers turns into a quest for finding his true self and the true nature of humankind. The book opens with the boy being found by a fisherwoman, who tends his wounds and gives him a job, and progressively continues with him encountering a series of people that are all tested by life’s hard challenges.
A book about a memorable initiation in life, an initiation made possible by suffering, loss, and the search for revenge, The Demon Who Peddled Longing is more than a novel, more than the story of a boy and his journey into adulthood; it is a showpiece of modern literature, offering its readers a visually stunning experience, with the assistance of the author’s impressive descriptive writing style. This is the kind of book that pays tribute to the reader instead of the author, kind of like the ones that gave birth to the theory of reading back in the 1960s, a poetic portrayal of a journey that peddles longing, bravery, tragedy, love, and most of all, the rite of passage into adulthood.
By making his book appeal to all types of readers, from philosophy lovers to fans of coming-of-age novels, Khanh Ha has created a magnum opus that will only be enhanced by the passing of years. The secretive cover and the metaphysical title intensify the meaningfulness of the novel, and makes readers want to embark on a reading journey of their own, in search of the demons and longings from the boy’s world.
