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Activities of Daily Living by Lisa Hsiao Chen

Activities of Daily Living

A Novel

by Lisa Hsiao Chen

  • Critics' Consensus (0):
  • Readers' Rating (26):
  • Published:
  • Apr 2022, 288 pages
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There are currently 26 reader reviews for Activities of Daily Living
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Power Reviewer
Beth B. (New Wilmington, PA)

LIFE, time, art, projects
Fellow readers, this is a UNIQUE novel, one that is extremely difficult to review, but one that I recommend to those who appreciate an author's skill with the interweaving of two stories. The research that led up to publication must have been grueling! How to combine Alice, her sister, and her father's decline into dementia with the far-fetched projects of Tehching Hsich is the task.

I can guarantee if you wish to see writing skill demonstrated, read this and do not miss the author's citations on the last page.
Sonia Francis

A collage in the cycle of life
In as much as I found this novel relatable, specifically the witnessing a parent’s end of life as I have been through it, I would have been okay with just the caring of a dying loved one. There are two different stories happening and in as much as I tried to see the parallel, I personally related to the end of life journey of the stepfather. That part of the novel carried more weight for me than the project of the artist.Because of personal bias, favoring this story, I find it difficult to review. There are times I thought the storyline wandered and meandered, like when the French author Simone de Beauvoir wasmore
Arlene S. (Granger, IN)

Activities of Daily Living
There is no real plot to this book other than the suspense we all live with day to day to see what tomorrow will bring.
There are two simultaneous stories going on here: Adult stepchildren taking care of an aging stepfather and the difficulty that brings. Remembering "what was" and merging that with "what is", heartbreaking at times; and the activities of daily living that everyone has in their life. The most mundane tasks are amplified and reflected upon. The things we do by reflex and don't give much thought to, well, they all take time, and they all must be done. We are all coping with what we need to do.
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Mitra V. (Stamford, CT)

A brilliant but esoteric book
The writer Ms. Lisa Hsiao Chen leaves no doubt in the reader's mind of her mastery over the New York artists scene. The whole book deals with pulls and pressures that conflict her very existence. The pull of her ancestry but the fears surrounding her ignorance of all its aspects. The pull of an artists excitement but her fears and insecurity that lead her to live her dreams through another artist. The pull of her wide episodic knowledge of the artiste's scene in New York but her inability to edit her knowledge into an effective commentary. Ms. Chen evidently is very knowledgeable on the general scene around themore
Mel F. (Auburn, MA)

Challenging book with some narrative including impressive literary and artistic references
In this book, Ms. Chen takes the reader on a thought provoking journey into diverse paths which involve how two different people - one factual and one fictional - use their lives to illustrate the concepts of life and time.

Her main character, Alice, creates a project (term used in the book) to immerse herself in the actual performance art of Tehching Hsieh (referred to as the Artist) whose art consists of a series of year long performances where he is the only actor in a series of unusual activities (which I thought bizarre) where he totally disengages himself from any distractions or activities and faces totalmore
MARY H.

Life and Multitasking
There is a disconnect between many of the chapters of this novel. After reading it straight through, I then went back to read a chapter at a time but not in order and the story still read the same. Many of the chapters were intense and complete in themselves as a short story would be and others left me wondering how it even pertained to the storyline.
Life is definitely about multitasking and Alice was a pro. Her ability to manage her life, the life and demise of her Father and the Artist's life. Throughout the story we are introduced to varied characters that interact with Alice and then there is the constantmore
Power Reviewer
Joan P. (Owego, NY)

Activities of Daily Living
I found this a difficult book. There are two main threads. One tells about The Artist, the life and accomplishments of a Chinese immigrant that is a performance artist. The second tells of The Father who is slowly walking the path to dementia and death. Time and it's boundaries and vagaries seems to bind them together. I related to the story of the father as I am on the same path and have a loving daughter to guide me. This was beautifully written and insightful. At other times I felt confused and irritated at the bombardment of extraneous material and name dropping. Was this the authors expectation?
Once I startmore
Lee L. (Los Angeles, CA)

Good but a few structural issues
?I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I appreciated the uniqueness of this book's structure, where the entire story essentially followed the main character Alice as she went through various "activities of daily living" that included becoming a caretaker for her stepfather as well as working on a project about reclusive artist Tehching Hsieh. Each chapter consisted of seemingly random snippets into Alice's life, interspersed with various tidbits about the Artist (as that is what he is referred to throughout the story), though the details ended up melding together to the point that it becomesmore

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