#elain hsieh chou

[thebellekeys]

Superior Subgenre: Race Satire by WOC

Here are my recommendations for satirical contemporary books by women of colour about racial fetishization and white neoliberals. Highly recommend these three books if you want to laugh, introspect, and marinate on how American society and institutions are being cooked by the culture war.

[hungryfictions]

my 2023 in books

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2023: DISORIENTATION by Elaine Hsieh Chou.

I tend to wait for lit fic in paperback instead of purchasing the hardback, but I've had my eye on this one since the hardback came out. I'm enjoying it so far! The Goodreads reviews are very polarized (people either love it or think it's hugely stupid), but it's easy to read and has made me laugh out loud a couple times (like weaponizing a box of jumbo tampons + toilet for a Heist Cover--this shit is ridiculous, I love it).

[thereadingmoon]

june hayward vs. ingrid yang: dumb characters discovering that racism exists battle to the death, GO!

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Disorientation | Author: Elaine Hsieh Chou | Publisher: Penguin (2022)

[morgan--reads]

Disorientation - Elaine Hsieh Chou

Summary: Desperate to finish her dissertation on the Chinese American poet Xiao-Wen Chou, Ingrid Yang seizes upon a small, strange note in the poet's archives. As Ingrid chases down the author of the note, she stumbles upon a world-shattering secret about Chou that calls into question everything she knew about academia and about herself.  

Quote: “Just when she thought she had a handle on who someone was, on the exact shape and size of their character, on the precise quantity of their goodness and badness, they insisted on changing.”

My rating: 3.0/5.0   Goodreads: 3.86/5.0

Review: A solid exploration of themes of racism in academia and America, the experience of growing up a child of immigrants, and the Asian American experience more broadly. However, it never commits itself to anything radical, ultimately a very moderate book in the same way as its fairly wishy-washy protagonist. The absurd elements are its strongest points, but Chou’s seeming determination to have the book be pleasant and non-problematic smooths over the weirder edges and keeps the book from achieving something memorable, even with its most interesting plotlines.

To read: I’m fairly certain R. F. Kuang’s Yellowface deals with similar themes, so I’m looking forward to reading it and comparing the two.

[fabbookreads]

Signed Disorientation book + event

[sapphireofmars]

every now and then i think of disorientation by elaine hsieh chou and damn it really did capture academia's true essence

[katiesbooks]

finally getting around to posting these silly little graphics!! fav books from 2022 part 1

[notebookmusical]

finally reading beartown next and then...

[bloodmaarked]

disorientation // elaine hsieh chou

first published: 2022 read: 15 september 2024 - 03 october 2024 pages: 401 format: paperback

genres: fiction; adult; race; satire/humour; asian literature favourite character(s): ingrid least favourite character(s): stephen (when i get you...)

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 thoughts: disorientation is certainly one of the most fun books i've read this year. so similar in theme and even somewhat in tone to yellowface by r.f. kuang, it's no surprise that i enjoyed it as much as i did. i also love a book where we watch the main character's slow descent into madness, and this book had a great version of this.

i loved the writing style, which was so satirical, sarcastic, and humorous. i definitely laughed out loud a few times. i think it was a clever and witty approach to topics of yelllowface, asian fetishisation, identity and self-loathing that comes with growing up as a "minority" in the western world, etc.

the characters were great and i loved our mc, ingrid. like i said, i enjoy watching a descent into madness, and following her as she uncovered some world-tilting secret whilst hopped up on over-the-counter meds was hilarious, crazy, and jaw-dropping. there were some other great characters in there too, like vivian, eunice, and alex. stephen's arc, and how he seemed so perfect for ingrid at first before we discover he's quite the opposite, was interesting and he was so easy to dislike. he was on the nose, but in a way that fit in with the book as a whole.

the plot is a whirlwind and i definitely want to avoid any potential spoilers, but it was a mad and unexpected journey from start to finish.

i'd absolutely keep an eye out for more of chou's works. i definitely recommend disorientation, and especially if you enjoyed yellowface - they are not the same, but they share a lot of similarities!

[yeriminder]

People You Want To Know Better

thank u for the tag @piived !! 🫶

three ships: tbh i haven't really been into ships for most of the stuff i'm into aside from jaytim , jondami , and ravioli . i usually stick to platonic stuff nowadays

first ship: oml the first ship i ever searched for content/fic for was tododeku in like 2018 when i was mega hypfixated on bnha

last movie: i rewatched 10 Things I Hate About You with my best friend last week and its easily top 10 romcoms to ever romcom

last song: ROTY - YOUNG POSSE gorgeous gorgeous girls listen to yp i've been seated since debut

currently reading: i've been really bad with reading actual books bc of english classes but! i've been meaning to start reading Disorientation by Elain Hsieh Chou since my older sibling rec'd and lent their copy to me

currently watching: rewatching b99 just bc i was in limbo after finishing all of hells kitchen and needed something brainless to watch (at least netflix only has the first 4 seasons . yknow the good seasons)

currently eating: just had sushi + gyoza . i love . dumplings . and sushi .

currently craving: dawgggg vee said cheesecake and now i'm thinking about cheesecake . we had leftover cheesecake from my older sister's best friend's pookie weekend and i'm so heartbrock 💔💔💔en about it bc i love love love cheesecake with my whole heart and soul . also mangoes bc i luv mangoes except we have some in the fridge so i'm gonna go eat mangoes after this

no pressure tags ! @sburbling @roundaboutnow @ohsanide

[coffeebooksandmore]

Currently reading “Where Are You Really From” by Elaine Hsieh Chou

It’s a book of short stories and so far I’m enjoying them

[the-greatest-fool]

Oh fuck, it’s almost June. Okay, here’s a quick and dirty Asian American literature sweep I recommend for AAPI month. Note this is not meant to cover all of AAPI—obviously, because they’re different ethnic groups and it barely even makes sense to combine the categories to begin with—but instead blast out some of the most famous works that, IMO, should already be household names outside of AsAm lit/studies. I also, just based off my own interests, included works that look at the interplay between race and gender and sexuality.

I included “trending” writers, but I also wanted to redirect some attention to work and writings that have been in this field for literally decades. This is off the top of my head and written on my phone, plus I doubt anyone will read this. I may return to this in the future.

Essayists & Memoirs:

Eric Liu, Notes of a Native Speaker

Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior

Alexander Chee, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

Cathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings

Jia Tolentino, Trick Mirror

Jay Caspian Kang, The Loneliest Americans

Hua Hsu, Stay True

Playwrights:

David Henry Hwang: Chinglish, Yellow Face, M. Butterfly

Novelists/Authors:

Louis Chu, Eat a Bowl of Tea

Amy Tan, Joy Luck Club

Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese

Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer

Charles Yu, Interior Chinatown

Elaine Hsieh Chou, Disorientation

Ling Ma, Severance

RF Kuang, Yellow Face

Poets:

Theresa Hak Kyung Chu

Arthur Sze

Justin Chin

Timothy Liu

Cathy Park Huang

Ocean Vuong

Other:

David L. Eng, Racial Castration

[kummatty]

books available at my local library;

the last pomegranate, bachtyar ali

names for light: a family history, thirii myo kyaw myint

disorientation, elaine hsieh chou

palestine +100, ed. basma ghalayini

blackouts, justin torres

hangman, maya binyam

brotherless night, v. v. ganeshananthan

tremor, teju cole

[radioregine]

re: self-censorship in art, the thing abt being the child of immigrants of color is that you deal with 80 million diff levels of respectability politics from all directions (your current country/culture, your folks home county, etc) . that's why books like disorientation by elaine hsieh chou have been immensely healing for me wrt unpacking some of my identity shit.