Yesterday I read Smile as they Bow (published in 2008) by Nu Nu Yi, a Burmese writer.  This book is fresh and originally told, skipping back and forth between narrators, but along a chronological continuum of day into night into day into night as we pass through the seven crazy days and nights that make up the Tuangbyon Festival in Upper Burma.  The festival is held in honor of two brothers who became gods and who are worshipped through the medium of natkadaws, dancers who channel the nats (spirits) that can please and appease the gods and thus bring good fortune to those who bring gifts and money to the mostly gay natkadaw dancers.  It seems the one acceptable outlet for being gay in Burma is to be such a dancer; there is prestige and fortune attached to the role but money and fame last only as long as the looks and charm and dancing ability of the natkadaw.

This book follows an aging but still vigorous natakadaw who goes by the name of Daisy Bond and his much younger helper and lover, the eighteen-year old boy named Min Min.   Although Daisy Bond and Min Min are trusted with the fortunes of others,  praised and bejeweled and pampered by those seeking favor with the nats and with the gods, their own fortunes are precarious.  Are their dreams of love and happiness and security possible in the harsh reality that resurfaces when the festival is over?

This book is extremely touching and interesting, offering a window into Burma that is rarely opened to us in the west.

Smile as They Bow was translated by Alfred Birnbaum and Thi Thi Aye.