Durians Are Not the Only Fruit Notes from the Tropics

In this mix of memoir, essay and nature writing, Wong Yoon Wah evokes the beauty and seduction of the tropical rainforest and rubber plantations of his childhood in Malaya. He examines what surrounds us: the fruits we grow, the food we eat, the trees and animals that thrive in our midst. Along the way, we gain fascinating insights: how thunder tea rice acquired its name; how early settlers used the rain tree to tell time; how the behaviour of ants can tell us when a monsoon is about to arrive. Both personal and informative, this selection of Wong’s essays is a stunning re-addition to the creative non-fiction landscape.

Translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang

“Durians Are Not the Only Fruit is a delightfully atypical publication to find in English...Jeremy Tiang smoothly renders Wong’s musings and reminiscences, whetting the appetite for the translator’s own writing...while Wong is chronicling his expulsion from the world of his youth, this volume sets that same world as a monument.”
—Josh Stenberg, Nanjing University, World Literature Today

“[A] truly valuable collection…To read this collection, is to gain a new perspective towards nature…I thoroughly enjoyed the reading of Wong’s fantastic, nuanced writing and the vividness of his expression. Wong Yoon Wah makes the rainforest, the kampung, the villagers and the animals come alive in an educational yet interesting read.”
—Daniel Chan, npTribune