AAPI Heritage Month: Memoir, Two Novels Reviewed

For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I'm posting reviews of memoirs and novels I've read and reviewed. Here are a few.

 

Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City by Jane Wong

Published: May 16, 2023; Tin House Books

Genre: memoir 

I liked the poetic prose that Jane Wong uses for much of this memoir. She has a poet's acute and perceptive reaction to life experiences.

I think of the book as a very personal account of her agonies in growing up among those who didn't understand or accept her - in school, university, in Atlantic City, where her parents ran a restaurant until her father deserted the family. Of having to field stereotyping, microaggressions, outright hostility, and more.

Her mother is the force that bolsters her as she goes through one heartbreak after another in her life and even in her failed relationships with boyfriends. The author does not dwell as much on her rise as a poet and on her academic career as an associate professor of creative writing. But I recall betrayals on her road to that position as well.

In this very honest memoir, the heartache comes through, as does her remarkably resilient mother who sees Jane through all her stages of despair and grief.

I was heartened to see that the author is a successful writer and teacher because of or in spite of all she went through.

About: Jane Wong is the author of How to Not Be Afraid of Everything from Alice James Books (2021) and Overpour from Action Books (2016). Her debut memoir, Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City, is being published May 16, 2023. She holds an M.F.A. in Poetry from the University of Iowa and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington and is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Western Washington University.  

A Quitter's Paradise by Elysha Chang

Publication: June 6, 2023; SJP Lit

Genre: contemporary, literary fiction

Setting: New York City and Taipei, Taiwan

I enjoyed the two different stories of two generations in this novel and how they impact one another - the story of Rita and Jing from Taipei, who emigrate to the U.S; and the stories of their daughters, Narisa and Eleanor, who grow up in New York.

Eleanor quits her PhD program in neuroscience; Narisa disappears for good while a teen, after one too many fights with her disapproving parents. Only Eleanor and her mother Rita are left after her father Jing leaves the U.S. and forms a new family in Taipei.

I am left with amazement and dismay at the family dynamics, especially that created by the parents. I wondered how Eleanor would cope with that history of people leaving and with her mother Rita, who is left alone with the girls in the U.S. when Jing leaves.

The novel tells two stories - the history of the parents and their extended family in NY, and that of the girls raised in the U.S. I found both stories fascinating.

About: Elysha Chang lives in Brooklyn, and has taught creative writing at Blue Stoop Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, and Villanova University. A graduate of Columbia's MFA Program, she has published in Center for Fiction Magazine, Fence, GQ, The Rumpus, and others. This is her first novel. 

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

Publication: September 5, 2023; Hogarth

Genre: mystery, thriller, literary fiction

Setting: Virginia, USA

A most unusual novel about a missing father of an autistic, verbally challenged 14-year-old, Eugene, who cannot explain in words or actions what happened to his father on that fateful day at the park when Alan disappeared.

I was interested in the description of Eugene's inability to speak coupled with his lack of fine motor skills to use sign language. I enjoyed the mystery - a disappearance that may have been an accident or a murder - and a story that explains that a non-speaking individual that can't control their own movements could still understand speech and even be able to read.

Eugene's older siblings, the twins John and Mia, are intriguing characters, intellectually gifted; the contrast between them and Eugene stands out, especially as the twins try to understand how their dad, Adam, was testing and training Eugene in ways to communicate.

Using technical theories and examples re communication and speech therapies made made the novel more interesting. It was not a problem for me to have a mystery, complex family dynamics, and a novel about a severe disability be all rolled into one in the same book.

I did however, find it unusual and unrealistic for the family to emphasize only verbal communication from Eugene and not the use of simple hand signs for even a Yes or No answer, especially regarding his father's disappearance in the park. Perhaps the topic was too stressful for him to respond in that way. 

A thought provoking book re autistic and non verbal persons, and a suspenseful mystery plot. 

About: Angie Kim moved from South Korea as a preteen. She studied at Stanford University and attended Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. Her debut novel, Miracle Creek, won several awards and was named one of the best books of the year. Angie has written for numerous literary journals. Happiness Falls is her second novel.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for these ebooks

What are you reading this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday