Critic Reviews
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Based on 7 reviews on
Proving once again that she is a writer of immense range and imagination, Quan Barry carries us across a terrain as unforgiving as it is beautiful and culturally varied, from the western Altai mountains to the eerie starkness of the Gobi Desert to the ancient capital of Chinggis Khaan. As their country stretches before them, questions of faith--along with more earthly matters of love and brotherhood--haunt the twins.
Are our lives our own, or do we belong to something larger? When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East is a stunningly far-flung examination of our individual struggle to retain our convictions and discover meaning in a fast-changing world, as well as a meditation on accepting what simply is.
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"What every moment of sentience for the past twenty-three years teaches me. There is one thing and one thing only: suffering and the end of suffering." Read an excerpt from Quan Barry's new novel, "When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East." https://t.co/GfX6W5aAl0
Writer, Walker, Banjo player🪕 he/him Author of MINK: SKINNING TIME IN WISCONSIN and EGG ON HER FACE: STORIES OF CRIME, HORROR, AND THE SPACE IN BETWEEN.
@LauraCameron__ @megpillow Quan Barry had a great novel last year about a kid identified as a reincarnation who refused to accept the role, "When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East." Really interesting work.
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Learn more about Quan Barry's writing process and her playwriting prowess! https://t.co/zTCbq6UGoc #writers #writingcommunity #podcast #WBPN
"[An] engrossing new novel. . . and although it's a sharp departure from We Ride Upon Sticks . . . its unconventional storytelling and fantastical elements will appeal to fans of Barry's other books. Barry showcases the diversity of cultures and traditions within Mongolia and . . . challenges stereotypes of Buddhist monks that readers may carry . . . At its heart, When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East asks questions fundamental to the human experience that will resonate regardless of the reader's familiarity with Mongolia, and it's bound to be beloved by book clubs." --Serena Puang, Boston Globe
"Utterly original, a unique immersion in history, philosophy, religion, the nature of time, and the clash of old and new happening all over our world . . . An award-winning poet, Barry shapes transparent, simple language into images that are lyrical and haunting . . . When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East is a story of much magic and many miracles--a startling, yet gentle, book." --Sally Shivnan, Washington Independent Review of Books
"Faith and brotherhood are at the heart of Quan Barry's compelling new novel." --PopSugar
"A wholly original, enlightening read." --Angela Haupt, TIME
"Spiritual and emotional. . . . When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East is a journey worth taking. The writing is simple but powerful, like a proverb. Many small observations will stop readers in their tracks to contemplate the myriad meanings. . . . It's what you would expect from a novel starring a young Buddhist monk: a peaceful and edifying story that can be endlessly mined for deeper meaning." --Olive Fellows, The Rumpus
"A dreamlike and lyrical journey steeped in the tenets of Tibetan Buddhism." --Kirkus Reviews (starred revew)
"An imaginative tour de force . . . Evincing the same dazzling talents that won high critical praise for We Ride upon Sticks, Barry vastly expands readers' horizons, both geographical and metaphysical . . . Readers' most transformative experience comes by reflecting--through Chulun's thoughts, strangely tangled with Mun's--on the Four Noble Buddhist Truths and the Eight-Fold Path. . .Though the narrative focuses on Mongolian Buddhism, readers learn how Buddhists everywhere have suffered as Chinese communists have persecuted the faith rooted in Tibet." --Bryce Christensen, Booklist (starred review)
"The expansive imagination of Massachusetts-raised Quan Barry knows no bounds . . . Barry explores large questions about Buddhist philosophy and faith in general while painting a lush portrait of the Mongolian terrain." --Katherine Ouelette, WBUR
"This novel couldn't be any more different from Quan Barry's deliciously irreverent 2020 novel We Ride Upon Sticks--except that it is similarly excellent, and similarly immersive, a full-throated plunge into a very specific, fascinating world." --Emily Temple, Literary Hub