MY YEAR ABROAD by Chang-rae Lee

This is my least favorite Chang-rae Lee book.  As expected, the writing is stellar, but the plot is just too bizarre.  Tiller is a 20-year-old, living with thirty-something Val and her eight-year-old son Victor, Jr.—Veej for short.  Tiller is supposed to be doing a year abroad for college, but he has settled into some version of domestic bliss after a wild and crazy junket that is also not college-sanctioned but certainly educational in its own way.  He travels with Pong, a fifty-something entrepreneur, whom Tiller meets at a golf event.   Then Tiller becomes Pong’s assistant of sorts, ostensibly tasked with helping Pong market an elixir to a young audience.  The narration alternates between the Val/Veej story and the Pong story, both of which are kooky.  Veej becomes quite the chef, and strangers start showing up from all over town to sample his wares, despite the fact that he and Val are under witness protection.  The Pong story, though, is what takes the cake in the weirdness department, as Tiller is part of an entourage that jets all over the Pacific Rim and finally lands in a luxurious lodge in China.  Tiller shows a talent for karaoke, but other than that, it’s not clear what his real role is, other than serving as a boy-toy for the daughter of the lodge’s owner.  Things turn very dark, but, fortunately, we know that Tiller will land on his feet, in the company of Val and Veej, who have dark moments of their own.  This novel is very long, and the plot is a whirlwind going nowhere until about three-quarters of the way through.  Pong’s backstory takes place during Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China, and I felt as though he ultimately subjects Tiller to a similar experience.