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joetatum24's review against another edition
5.0
Let’s just say that when I was reading this on an airplane, I started crying and asked the flight attendant for a napkin or two for my tears. She came back with a pile of napkins.
After my crying subsided I was inspired to write more and more, trough story and beautiful prose and closings to essays that offered the emotional and thoughtful conclusion that I do often find lacking. I’m ready to write my novel now.
After my crying subsided I was inspired to write more and more, trough story and beautiful prose and closings to essays that offered the emotional and thoughtful conclusion that I do often find lacking. I’m ready to write my novel now.
alina_kolpakova's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.5
Some essays were way better than others. But reading about the AIDS epidemic always tugs at my heart.
kavanomo's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia
kamali_williams's review against another edition
5.0
To be honest, not upset that this took me a month to read. I started reading it on my ipad and I got the hard copy from my mom’s library and it was so nice to read.
I recommend everyone to read it
I recommend everyone to read it
entnert's review against another edition
1.0
i did not finish this book and i am actually physically enraged that i wasted some days of AAPI month on this vapid steaming piece of horseshit. i can place value on works that explore one’s history for the sake of some form of self-therapy and closure or even just the vaguest notion of seeking self-awareness but fucking come on? this self-absorbed and yet completely hollow essayist is one that has been lauded for his ability to capture the sanctity of writing?
many reviewers say that the first essay was one of the strongest—not only was it god-awful prose but already it put forth some of the strongest reasons for why this guy is so far up his own ass to actually excrete any substance.
1. there’s the uncomfortable disposition between his talking about how the family he stayed with was incredibly wealthy and he had never seen such wealth up close, but yes let’s pose it in a way where he never actually has to confront his own privilege i.e. getting to be in an exchange program within a city that has extreme economic disparity, hailing from a relatively cloistered white city, and even learning a second language as a way to curate one’s cultural palette as opposed to being a survival mechanism. plus, his only close encounter with actually acknowledging this privilege is when he interacts with uriel, the family’s hired man for a multitude of chores, and yet that acknowledgement is entirely muted by the fact that he was in love with uriel too, and so it’s self-aware enough for him to even reflect on their power dynamics. i chose to read this book because my queen elaine castillo quoted him in How To Read Now (which i still highly recommend but hope to god it has brought no more people to this crap than me) and the irony is she talks in that book about how, not to denigrate the experiences of asian kids in white cities who i’m sure have their fair share of anti asian racism, but being able to live in a wealthy white city at all is already a supreme privilege! BUT YES LET’S BITCH ABOUT WHITE KIDS THAT CAN’T SAY “GUAM” CORRECTLY BUT WHY ARE YOU FROM GUAM? YOU ARE A MILITARY AND TRUST FUND BABY, YOU ARE NOT INDIGENOUS TO GUAM THEREFORE HAVE LOST YOUR ABILITY TO BE RIGHTEOUSLY ANGRY ABOUT IT, fucking colonizer
2. there’s the episode where he talks at an uncomfortable length (eek) about the penis of the host family’s son, miguel. he talks about how in a locker room, miguel remains distractedly and distractingly naked while speaking, and so alexander (our dickish author) continues making aimless conversation so as to continue his trance. he does say, in “retrospect” that miguel may have been flirting with him, but given that alexander is at this point a middle-aged man that is reminiscing, there is something incredibly distressing about how sensually he describes an 18 year old boy. also, alexander kept talking to miguel to ensure that he could memorize and then inscribe the memory in the most sensual way possible. sure, miguel may have been flirting. he may have. but if he wasn’t? to portray miguel in such a way if he wasn’t is, in the plainest way possible, taking advantage of him.
the irony of this work uplifting writing is that i am rarely moved to write reviews of books, but i am so spiteful that i must. so thank you alexander, for me wanting so badly to say fuck this guy that i try to say it in a way that elucidates rather than just basically smearing shit on shit, which is what this more likely deserves.
many reviewers say that the first essay was one of the strongest—not only was it god-awful prose but already it put forth some of the strongest reasons for why this guy is so far up his own ass to actually excrete any substance.
1. there’s the uncomfortable disposition between his talking about how the family he stayed with was incredibly wealthy and he had never seen such wealth up close, but yes let’s pose it in a way where he never actually has to confront his own privilege i.e. getting to be in an exchange program within a city that has extreme economic disparity, hailing from a relatively cloistered white city, and even learning a second language as a way to curate one’s cultural palette as opposed to being a survival mechanism. plus, his only close encounter with actually acknowledging this privilege is when he interacts with uriel, the family’s hired man for a multitude of chores, and yet that acknowledgement is entirely muted by the fact that he was in love with uriel too, and so it’s self-aware enough for him to even reflect on their power dynamics. i chose to read this book because my queen elaine castillo quoted him in How To Read Now (which i still highly recommend but hope to god it has brought no more people to this crap than me) and the irony is she talks in that book about how, not to denigrate the experiences of asian kids in white cities who i’m sure have their fair share of anti asian racism, but being able to live in a wealthy white city at all is already a supreme privilege! BUT YES LET’S BITCH ABOUT WHITE KIDS THAT CAN’T SAY “GUAM” CORRECTLY BUT WHY ARE YOU FROM GUAM? YOU ARE A MILITARY AND TRUST FUND BABY, YOU ARE NOT INDIGENOUS TO GUAM THEREFORE HAVE LOST YOUR ABILITY TO BE RIGHTEOUSLY ANGRY ABOUT IT, fucking colonizer
2. there’s the episode where he talks at an uncomfortable length (eek) about the penis of the host family’s son, miguel. he talks about how in a locker room, miguel remains distractedly and distractingly naked while speaking, and so alexander (our dickish author) continues making aimless conversation so as to continue his trance. he does say, in “retrospect” that miguel may have been flirting with him, but given that alexander is at this point a middle-aged man that is reminiscing, there is something incredibly distressing about how sensually he describes an 18 year old boy. also, alexander kept talking to miguel to ensure that he could memorize and then inscribe the memory in the most sensual way possible. sure, miguel may have been flirting. he may have. but if he wasn’t? to portray miguel in such a way if he wasn’t is, in the plainest way possible, taking advantage of him.
the irony of this work uplifting writing is that i am rarely moved to write reviews of books, but i am so spiteful that i must. so thank you alexander, for me wanting so badly to say fuck this guy that i try to say it in a way that elucidates rather than just basically smearing shit on shit, which is what this more likely deserves.
daumari's review against another edition
5.0
A great collection of essays- thoughtful, personal, intimate. Though many pieces appeared individually elsewhere (with some expansions here), this collection pulls together a portrait of who Alexander Chee is, in several lenses of his life: as an activist, as a teacher, as a lover, as a mixed race American. I haven't read his fiction before, but now I feel I need to, especially after reading how he worked from experiences to create [b:Edinburgh|272433|Edinburgh|Alexander Chee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1438828929l/272433._SX50_.jpg|264139] ([b:The Queen of the Night|17912498|The Queen of the Night|Alexander Chee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1460425080l/17912498._SX50_.jpg|2923071] is on my to-reads, but probably got there because historical fiction/POC author, and isn't discussed as much except when he mentions trying to figure out the second novel after pouring so much of himself into his first). Beyond that, Chee's prose is beautiful- moving and aesthetically pleasing.
clara_reads_books's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
lesbiangrandpa's review against another edition
5.0
Dang. I am so thankful Alexander Chee and this book exist. Chee clearly remains an activist for so many people and reasons and manages to do some exemplary work in the worlds of personal emotional labor and empathy and intelligence. Here, the reader (and writer) get answers to the question: "What is even the point?" through a writing around and connecting of the fragments, of an identity continually in the making.
youngthespian42's review against another edition
4.0
I read this essay collection for a book club of mine. While some of the essays are interesting and hit harder than others the collection overall is strong. More impressive than the content is the structure of the collection. This book feels structured around a memoir or consistent narrative even though it is a collection of essays. Highly recommend especially to those aspiring writing or people interested in the craft.