A Thousand Years of Good Prayers is the true avant garde–having an elderly main character who doesn’t speak English in the US. It follows an old man trying to connect with his daughter, a new country, the past & himself all while dealing with different communication barriers: language, misunderstanding, institutionally imposed silence, innuendo & culture. The real connection exists between the people who barely know each other, can barely talk to each other, but share the same mixture of loss, success & survival. Heartbreaking & real.