Miles from Nowhere

This was an okay book.

Nami Mun's Miles from Nowhere deserves attention because it is such a compelling story, and it is such an unusual one, too. It is the self-told story of Joon, a young teenage daughter of Korean immigrants in the Bronx. The story begins after Joon has run away, but only over the course of the book is the full story on her parents' relationship revealed to us. She darts from shelters to third-rate motels to heroin addiction. She works the streets. She sells Avon. She sells dances. The only peace she finds is in the long subway rides she takes out to the terminal stop and back. This book grew on me. The prose is very simple but also very driven by observation. It is easy to picture June's world - one of second story day cares, tire shops, abandoned gas stations, White Castles, and faded hair salon posters. Her voice is tragic and desperate. Joon seems to have no place to go, like the discarded doll that she watches one day, being pushed along by the stream of water in a gutter. Again, the reader is led by the hypnotic spell that seeps through the trances that are Joon's thoughts. Sometimes the terror of her naivete and confusion jumps out. There is a scene toward the end that made me cringe. I was sure the book was about to end, or at least, the part with Joon. The author bio hints that Mun has had many of the vocations (Avon lady, dance hostess, street vendor) held by Joon, and a few others that would provide excellent inspiration for insights into this world - criminal investigator and bartender. Just a great book. I hope it gets a chance.

"Miles from Nowhere" is a beautiful novel in the way that street graffiti can engage a city's sense of artistry. Its strength comes from its sheer beauty in the face of so much ugliness, disappointment, and despair. In this novel, author Nami Mun can take a dollar store window full of soap and turn it into a kaleidoscope of colorful beauty, can turn the words of street kids and junkies into poetry. It's not a journey everyone will want to make, but for those who do, there are some amazing literary rewards in store. What feels like more of a compilation of short stories than a running storyline in a novel, "Miles from Nowhere" is the saga of Joon-Mee, a Korean-American teenager whose Bronx family life is so disturbing that she decides living on the street is better than remaining in her dysfunctional family. Following her life from homeless shelter to escort club, from deep dives into heroin to selling Avon door-to-door, the stories are engaging yet sobering, spare and beautiful. Moreover, just when the reader is ready to write a situation off as hopeless, along comes a turn of phrase that completely reverses the entire scene, making it as beautiful as the moon emerging from a dark, clouded sky. It speaks volumes to Mun's writing ability that she can turn a situation on a dime, making the most downtrodden characters into prophets and most mundane of situations into something extraordinary, and worth exploring. For those who would rather not see the sordid underbelly of the big city or follow the antics of its down-on-their-luck residents, "Miles from Nowhere" is not for you. Readers need a big view and a willingness to be open to seeing old things with new eyes. Mun has a great future ahead of her as a literary star if she can apply the writing chops demonstrated here to other subject matter. The book is a stunning debut novel. Writing a second novel that equals "Miles from Nowhere" will be the true test of what she has to offer the literary world.

This book will surely have those who wish to ban anything that isn't saccharine sweet up-in-arms. It is an disturbing story of a street child, complete with the rough language, drug use, and ugly images of activities that accompany street life. Yet, there is the beauty of friendship and the reaching for a better life by the protagonist that lift this tale to another level. Nami Mun is a skilled author, and the reader is drawn into the story full force. I found myself cheering for Joon and hoping that she would be able to lift herself out of the street life. I wanted her to succeed; I was unhappy when she chose to do the wrong thing. This is not a book for the squeemish or for those whose narrow-minded vision would have any controversial book banished. It is, however, a book for those seeking an articulate, intelligent author who can make you cheer for the characters in the book, even if you disagree with their life choices and their actions.

I received an advance copy of this book, and after reading chapter one I was hooked and couldn't put it down. Miles from Nowhere is one of the most startling and brutally honest books I've read in a long time. Author Nami Mun skillfully takes her readers deep into the heart of New York City's world of young runaways. Using and episodic approach through the eyes of a young Korean teenager named Joon, she brings us face to face with some of Joon's darkest days. In so many ways this book was very heartbreaking as Joon moves through the episodes unloved, unwanted, and alone. At times she is surrounded with junkies, thieves, prostitutes, and sexual predators. Through most of the book Joon is using drugs and living day to day in shelters, motels, abandoned buildings, and on the street. As horrific as all of this sounds, Nami Mun has almost poetically written these stories in such a beautiful way that I found it very easy to relate to her character Joon. She tells just enough for you to feel the pain and the episodes bounce off of each other so well it's not hard to fill in the blanks. I don't want to let on too much about the book because the book because there is beauty and hope to be found in this book, but only Nami Mun can tell this story well. My only two criticisms are that I would have liked to have seen each chapter dated to give the reader a better idea of how much time has elapsed between each chapter and how much Joon might have matured. There are hints, but I would have still preferred a stated date at the beginning of the chapter. I also wish the book was longer. This book is a short, easy read, and the pages flew by quickly in anticipation of a better life for Joon.