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noturstroganoff's review against another edition
5.0
Karen Tei Yamashita is, in my mind, the Gabriel Garcia Marquez of Asian America.
I call this winter “Apocalyptic speculative fiction set in LA leading up to Y2K” Winter. There is so much information we’ve been gifted to build our futures.
~~~
Selections from Sesshu Foster’s introduction in the 2007 edition, whose poetry I adore:
“This is the ultimate book about Los Angeles, because there is no ultimate book about Los Angeles.”
“TROPIC OF ORANGE refracts the city’s passion like skyscrapers against the setting sun. This book holds in solar heat like granite.”
~~~
My favorite scene from the novel is from Chapter 43: Emi, JA journalist at the end of the world, stretched out for some sun on the roof of her news casting van, in the middle an abandoned freeway in LA—with phenomenal narration by Emily Woo Zeller, who captures a sardonic, fanciful, fuck-if-I-care attitude that I adore about so many Asian American women I’ve met, in the generations before me and my own—describing the “New Age Tan”:
“You arrive from some midwestern armpit, see, you’ve been raised on steak and potatoes. To you, ‘veggie’ is like canned beans, ‘vegan’ is, well, it’s a Trekkie word for aliens from the star Vega. Someone on Venice Beach reads you your astrological forecast, someone else reads you your aura. You find out you’re a star-crossed Aquarian with a future as a bisexual. You get a tattoo on your right ankle and pierce your navel. You join a gym…and get regular bodywork. You take up yoga, do a thorough detox, and go macrobiotic—miso, tofu and brown rice. You become religiously organic. You join an animal rights support group to heal your ‘inner animal’. You try to write a screenplay and get an agent. You go to bed under a pyramid with your therapist-healer. Your folks come out to see you, Disneyland, Universal Studios and Marilyn Monroe’s grave. They say, ‘California seems to be doing you some good! Got some color in your face for a change!’ Voila—a New Age Tan.”
I can just imagine the wry smile on Emi’s face. This so aptly describes the way people remake themselves within the venue of gentrification, when the entire economy is geared to support YOUR wellness. In a country with no universal healthcare. For this, I must meet Karen Tei Yamashita in person and shake her hand. She has a lifetime of my respect. Off to read everything KTY has ever written…
I call this winter “Apocalyptic speculative fiction set in LA leading up to Y2K” Winter. There is so much information we’ve been gifted to build our futures.
~~~
Selections from Sesshu Foster’s introduction in the 2007 edition, whose poetry I adore:
“This is the ultimate book about Los Angeles, because there is no ultimate book about Los Angeles.”
“TROPIC OF ORANGE refracts the city’s passion like skyscrapers against the setting sun. This book holds in solar heat like granite.”
~~~
My favorite scene from the novel is from Chapter 43: Emi, JA journalist at the end of the world, stretched out for some sun on the roof of her news casting van, in the middle an abandoned freeway in LA—with phenomenal narration by Emily Woo Zeller, who captures a sardonic, fanciful, fuck-if-I-care attitude that I adore about so many Asian American women I’ve met, in the generations before me and my own—describing the “New Age Tan”:
“You arrive from some midwestern armpit, see, you’ve been raised on steak and potatoes. To you, ‘veggie’ is like canned beans, ‘vegan’ is, well, it’s a Trekkie word for aliens from the star Vega. Someone on Venice Beach reads you your astrological forecast, someone else reads you your aura. You find out you’re a star-crossed Aquarian with a future as a bisexual. You get a tattoo on your right ankle and pierce your navel. You join a gym…and get regular bodywork. You take up yoga, do a thorough detox, and go macrobiotic—miso, tofu and brown rice. You become religiously organic. You join an animal rights support group to heal your ‘inner animal’. You try to write a screenplay and get an agent. You go to bed under a pyramid with your therapist-healer. Your folks come out to see you, Disneyland, Universal Studios and Marilyn Monroe’s grave. They say, ‘California seems to be doing you some good! Got some color in your face for a change!’ Voila—a New Age Tan.”
I can just imagine the wry smile on Emi’s face. This so aptly describes the way people remake themselves within the venue of gentrification, when the entire economy is geared to support YOUR wellness. In a country with no universal healthcare. For this, I must meet Karen Tei Yamashita in person and shake her hand. She has a lifetime of my respect. Off to read everything KTY has ever written…
aimeelio's review against another edition
3.0
I read this for school. Interesting, very surreal. definately not something i would have picked up by myself.
sere_rev's review against another edition
2.0
Essentially a 300-page commentary on immigration inserted in a very vague magical realism scenario. I appreciated how the writing style adapted to each character, but unfortunately I really disliked Bobby's style and didn't particularly like the others either. The plot is barely even there. I just think this could've been 200 pages shorter and gotten the same ideas across.
mel510's review
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
imthechillalex's review against another edition
4.0
Really uniquely idiosyncratic mix of that sort of “interconnected” tendency that inhabits a lot of late 20th century narrative storytelling with magic realism. I’m really most interested by the sort of “perceived” vs “real” relationship it has with LA and its inhabitants. Did to this, I feel it makes a good pairing with Thom Andersen’s documentary Los Angeles Plays Itself.
boohabu's review
3.25
In terms of writing and immersion, Yamashita does an incredible job. It's an interesting read.
However, I am mature enough to own up to the fact that magical realism just goes right over my head. There's definitely a lot of underlying messages that I didn't understand. I read this book for an English class and most of my analyses were just "what is going on????"
However, I am mature enough to own up to the fact that magical realism just goes right over my head. There's definitely a lot of underlying messages that I didn't understand. I read this book for an English class and most of my analyses were just "what is going on????"
lizardluvr's review
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
5.0
wow i will be thinking about this book for the rest of my life