A quick read that really packs a punch. I’ve never really dived into books of short stories, and I’m really glad this was my first. This books has 14 different short stories, each serving as a small glimpse into the lives of people from Laos or direct descendents of Laos at different points in their lives. 

My favorite stories were the title story, “How to Pronounce Knife”, as well as “Edge of the World”. I think these two hit me the most because both followed the child of immigrants and had two very different relationships with their parents. In the first, you’re seeing the difficulty in learning the English language while understanding the delegate nature of parental pride. The second story follows a child watching their mother fall into obsession as a distraction from the life she was currently experiencing as her new normal in the US. All of the stories were extremely well written, emotional, and honestly if you’re the child of an immigrant, it hits different. This is definitely a book I want to buy for my permanent book collection so like if you’re thinking of getting me an early birthday gift….. 👀