Slog - Comments on Lunch Date: The Gift of Rain http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/lunch_date_the_gift_of_rain (A few times a week, I take a new book with me to lunch and give it a half an hour or so to grab my attention. Lunch Date is my judgment on that speed-dating experience.) Who's your date today? The Gift of Rain, by Twan Eng. Where'd you go? La Puerta, at the top of the Broadway Market. What'd you eat? Three beef tacos, beans, and rice ($6.75). How was the food? I was thoroughly unimpressed. My mom has made me better tacos by strictly following the directions on an Old El Paso taco kit box, and I've... Copyright 2008 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:42:37 -0800 Thu, 01 May 2008 09:57:27 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Greg You should read Yokohama Burning.

]]> Greg http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/lunch_date_the_gift_of_rain#c1007998 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/lunch_date_the_gift_of_rain#c1007998 Books Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:02:39 -0800 Comment by Dougsf The representative quote is really, really off-putting to me. Post a follow-up (if you can) if you make it through the book.

]]> Dougsf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/lunch_date_the_gift_of_rain#c1008056 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/lunch_date_the_gift_of_rain#c1008056 Books Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:36:11 -0800 Comment by Paul Constant @2: That's the thing! There's no good representative quote. Maybe it's telling of my inability to read non-snappy writing or something, but I'm getting the sense that I'm reading something that's intended to be serious and literary and is instead just not interesting. But I will post a follow-up if I can, if I do.

]]> Paul Constant http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/lunch_date_the_gift_of_rain#c1008107 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/lunch_date_the_gift_of_rain#c1008107 Books Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:04:20 -0800 Comment by In Defense of La Puerta You've got to order the right things at La Puerta-- it's owned and operated by an awesome Mexican family from Guadalajara and they're as authentic as it gets.

However, a lot of their menu caters to whitey. Order the tacos and you're bound to be disappointed. Order the mole or the cochinita pibil and you'll swoon.

Give 'em another try! Seriously, you won't be disappointed.

]]> In Defense of La Puerta http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/lunch_date_the_gift_of_rain#c1008160 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/lunch_date_the_gift_of_rain#c1008160 Books Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:46:54 -0800 Comment by Janet Brown You're right--I love this book and have read it twice, but can't pull an individual "representative quote" that gives a sound bite for this book. The observations and descriptions stop me in my reading tracks with the world and the thoughts that they evoke, but they are part of a fictional fabric, tightly woven to form a cohesive picture. Pulling them apart does the novel no service.

]]> Janet Brown http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/lunch_date_the_gift_of_rain#c1010606 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/lunch_date_the_gift_of_rain#c1010606 Books Thu, 01 May 2008 09:57:27 -0800