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Off the Menu
by Christine Son

Published: 2008-08-05
Paperback : 368 pages
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An extraordinary debut about second-generation Asian-American women trying to live up to society’s high standards, as well as their own. Even though it’s been ten years since their Houston high school days, co-valedictorians and best friends Whitney Lee, Hercules Huang, and Audrey Henley ...
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Introduction

An extraordinary debut about second-generation Asian-American women trying to live up to society’s high standards, as well as their own. Even though it’s been ten years since their Houston high school days, co-valedictorians and best friends Whitney Lee, Hercules Huang, and Audrey Henley still delight in their once-a-month get-togethers where they talk, laugh, and confide in each other— although not about everything. Because each young woman has a deep, dark secret they think they could never share. Not even with their best friends. Then, during a girls’ weekend getaway, these three friends wind up revealing their most intimate truths—and realize that to get straight As in the real world, all you have to do is let go of the need to be perfect…

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Excerpt

 ONE
Whitney Lee was rummaging through her desk when the phone trilled, its sharp blasts reverberating against the walls of her hamster cage-sized office. She stared at the Caller ID for a long moment, dismayed to see that Will Strong was on the line. God, she thought, finally reaching for the receiver, did her boss always have to call at seven o'clock on Friday nights? ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

 (1) Whitney, Hercules, and Audrey have different backgrounds and interests but there are some commonalities as well. What do you think bonds them and, despite their friendship, why is there still a wall that separates them? (2) The three women are at turning points in their personal and professional lives where the decisions they make now will affect their happiness. They’re pressured by what they think they should do and what their gut tells them. Have you ever felt at the crossroads in your life where one decision you made affected which road you took in life? Did you follow your head or your heart? (3) Whitney, Hercules, and Audrey are all sympathetic characters with their own baggage, strength, and resilient spirit. They're able to overcome their obstacles but they each handle their situations in different ways. Which character do you relate to more and why?

Notes From the Author to the Bookclub

 Hello! And thanks for looking at my book! If you haven’t heard, OFF THE MENU is about three, high achieving women whose lives have been shaped by expectations — of their parents, of their peers, of each other, of themselves. Yet, despite their outward successes, they yearn to follow the dreams of their hearts, which don’t match the images they’ve created for themselves. Through their friendship, they come to understand that success doesn’t mean perfection, but simply the courage to try.

What made me want to write this book? So many things! Mostly, I, along with several of my friends, was going through a third-life crisis. We had all achieved a certain level of success in our careers, but we were all so unsatisfied. We had accomplished a goal, but not our passion. Writing is my passion, and after diddling around for a decade, I finally decided to sit down and do it even though I was working crazy hours at my law firm. And even though I was terrified of public failure. It’s why I never told anyone that I was writing. A lot of that tension made it into the book, and based on so many of my colleagues, I think this idea—this doing something, but wanting something more—is pretty universal. It’s what I want my readers to take from OFF THE MENU—that whatever your passion is, no matter how grandiose or ostensibly mundane, is worth striving for.

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