Thousand Star Hotel (Paperback)
Staff Reviews
Local author! Local press! Bao Phi's poems are frank and affecting. I admire the tenderness with which he writes about the joys and challenges of being a man and raising a daughter—especially in America, especially as a Vietnamese American. If you want to read more poetry, this book is an excellent place to start.
— Timothy, Wild RumpusThousand Star Hotel confronts the silence around racism, police brutality, and the invisibility of the Asian American urban poor.
From "with thanks to Sahra Nguyen for the refugee style slogan"
They give the kids candy to bet.
My daughter loses the first four rounds,she's a quiet wire as they take her candy away, piece by piece.
When she finally wins, I ask if she wants to play again.
No she shouts, grabbing her candy, I want to go home
True refugee style:
take everything you got and run with it.
Bao Phi is a National Poetry Slam finalist.