FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Ira Sukrungruang, author of “Talk Thai,” will sign copies of his book at Page & Palette Bookstore, 32 S. Section St. in Fairhope on March 6, from 2-4 p.m.

Subtitled “A Memoir of an Immigrant Son,” this is the story of a first-generation Thai-American growing up in a Thai family, and his constant attempts to reconcile cultural and familial expectations.

It is a first-generation Asian American story, a mama’s boy story, a Chi-town Southsider story, a child of the ’80s story, a child of a broken home story.

In this book we meet a mother who started packing for her return to Thailand the moment she arrived in this country, whose dreams of a normal Thai son, of a normal Thai family, slowly erode; that mother's best friend, the narrator’s second mother, who lives with and cooks for the family; and a wayward father whose dreams never quite come to fruition.

Yet despite the cultural conflict that manifests in the home, in the community and in Sukrungruang’s mind, this book is written with humor and playfulness, by a writer not afraid to make a little fun of himself nor to expose the moments of poignancy in his life.

Readers will discover Buddhism from a new perspective as they read about Sukrungruang drawing the Buddha’s hands in temple, and see mainstream Western religion “god people” through his and his family’s eyes.

They will follow his steps toward manhood, shaped by his two Thai mothers, his golf-obsessed father and his southside Chicago friends discussing the word “fairy.”

People in Sukrungruang’s life are complex and real on the page, characters we know, have known, or want to know.

Through scene-driven storytelling, readers will feel this world, this immigrant life is familiar; through subtle insight and observation they will understand the strangeness of it.

A vital addition to Asian American literature, this book is also, quintessentially, American literature, and from the X-Men to temple, from “karate” lessons in a friend’s backyard to the unique spices of Thai food, sure to appeal to a wide variety of readers.

The author will exclusively sign all books purchased from Page & Palette.

For more information, call (251) 928-5295.