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| Author | Darin Strauss |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Literary Fiction |
| Published | June 2000E. P. Dutton |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 336 |
| Awards | The Alex Award for Fiction |
| ISBN | 978-0452281097 |
Chang & Eng is a book by American authorDarin Strauss, published in 2000. It was a nominee for multiple awards, including the Pen Hemingway, theBarnes & Noble Discover Award, theNew York Public Library's Literary Lions Award, and a winner of theAmerican Library Association'sAlex Award.
Strauss fictionalizes the lives ofChang and Eng Bunker, the first famous conjoined twins, as they travel from old Siam (Thailand) and find fame in New York and, eventually, theCivil War South.
In 1811Chang and Eng Bunker are born, twins joined at the chest by a seven-inch-long ligament, in old Siam (Thailand). (This ligament contains a part of their stomach, the only organ they share.) Besides this connecting band, each twin is completely separate from the other: each has a separate personality, separate desires, is a separate individual. Eng, the more shy and bookish twin, narrates their story. When the book opens, Chang & Eng face their last night—Eng awakens, sees that Chang is dead, and knows that he will die tonight, too. Then the book jumps back in time: to their birth: on their parents' houseboat on the Mekong River. Their mother does not tell them they are different, and they assume that all babies are attached.
Soon, the King of Siam condemns them to death—as a double-omen—but he changes his mind upon seeing what a glorious sight they are. He exploits them as freaks. In 1825, an amoral American promoter brings them to America, and this begins their life of celebrity.
The brothers become the world's most famous circus act, get caught up in the Civil War, marry sisters, and father over 20 children.
Eng—a bookish reader of Shakespeare—becomes a leader (or a tool) of the temperance movement and, from birth to death, wishes desperately to be separated. Chang is charming, a heavy drinker, and he is married to the woman that Eng—in secret—loves, too.
Chang & Eng was a commercial and critical success, reaching #3 on theNew York Post's bestsellers list. Writing inThe Guardian, writer and criticFrank Delaney said: "This is an assured and sweeping book...The novel grows and grows in stature. Never less than poignant, it becomes almost unbearably moving." InThe New York Times, critic Michiko Kakutani called it "A spirited and promising debut."[1] Writer Andrew Santella, inThe New York Times Book Review,[2] found the novel "a story of heroic longing." He continued, "Strauss's novel—its humor, its humanity, its aching sadness—makes for a fine memorial."The Wall Street Journal,[3] called the novel "Bold… Imaginative… A daring story from a brave new voice in literature." And, inThe New Yorker,[4] the book was called "as lyrical as it is daring."
Chang & Eng made a number of year-end best lists, in such venues asEntertainment Weekly,Newsweek,The New York Times Book Review andLos Angeles Times Book Review, as well as in United Kingdom papersThe Times andDaily Mail.
The rights to the novel were optioned toDisney, for the directorJulie Taymor; the actorGary Oldman purchased the rights from Disney. Strauss and Oldman together wrote a script to adaptChang & Eng for the screen.
Chang & Eng received the 2001American Library AssociationAlex Award for fiction, and was a finalist for a number of other awards, including theBarnes & Noble Discover Award and theNew York Public Library's Literary Lions Award.