
Published by
The Leonard Lopate Show
Trauma and Trappings in Search of the American Dream

Atticus Lish talks about his novel, Preparation for the Next Life, which won the 2015 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Zou Lei, a Chinese immigrant, finds herself slaving in New York's kitchens. She falls in love with an Iraqi war veteran. A new life may be possible if together they can survive homelessness, lockup, and nightmares, which may be more prophecy than madness.