Invited by Diablo Valley College staff to talk about the book, Author Lily Hoang read a few chapters to a filled Diablo Room.

“A Bestiary,” winner of  the 2015 Essay Collection Competition, is part of the required reading for a few creative writing classes among multiple instructors.
Hoang read selections from her 2016 award winning paperback, “A Bestiary”, to a filled Diablo Room Wednesday, April 26.

She described the book as a memoir filled with fairy tales, and it reads that way. Hoang read from a chapter called ‘On Catastrophe’ in which she recounts living with her nephew who had a drug problem and is interlaced with a fairy tale about a white tiger. The cuts between the two tales are sharp, with no transitions connecting them. But that is her style and one that her readers like.

The only opinion on the book that matters comes from the the one review left on the Amazon.com book page. A verified purchase, Michelle, rated it five stars and said in February, “One of the best books I read all year. vulnerable yet biting [sic].”

Asked about the book title, Hoang gives the definition for a bestiary as “a compendium of of real and imaginary animals.” Each of the book’s chapters will have a tie to an animal from the Chinese zodiac. Before the concept for the book formed, Hoang said she had two essays, one about a dragon and the other about a rat. She added that when she decided to write a chapter for each of the twelve zodiac animals it became a writing challenge, like a game, that kept the writing flowing. Hoang does not get writer’s block, she says.

In contrast to her writing on fairy tales are her memoir like, first person stories. She writes of love, grief and the relationships she has with everyone in her life. ‘If you are in a relationship with a writer, you should know that you will be written about and you may not like the way you’re portrayed,” said Hoang.

After reading excerpts from the book, Hoang signed copies of the book and answered questions from the audience, speaking on topics that ranged from her writing process to personal political views to practical advice to students pursuing writing.

“A Bestiary” was sold at the event for $15 but can also be purchased off Amazon.com.