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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition
informative
tense
fast-paced
3.0
“Patiently educating a clueless white person about race is draining. It takes all your powers of persuasion. Because it’s more than a chat about race. It’s ontological. It’s like explaining to a person why you exist, or why you feel pain, or why your reality is distinct from their reality. Except it’s even trickier than that. Because the person has all of Western history, politics, literature, and mass culture on their side, proving that you don’t exist.”
➽ This is a nonfiction about the Asian American identity! I was interested to learn more about the topic and in Minor Feelings the author offers a collection of essays filled with personal anecdotes. I liked the discussions about the model minority myth, the intersection between race/art and assimilation into American culture. While I liked hearing what Cathy Park had to say, I wish her essays had a bigger connection and that the book felt more cohesive. Some chapters were simply more intriguing to me than others. I struggled the most with the chapters that were focused on her personal life, as it felt a bit invasive and detracted from the points she wanted to make. At one point she talked in-depth about a complicated friendship and her friend's mental health issues. That didn't feel like it had a place in this book and I wonder if her friends consented to having very personal things shared for everyone to read about. The balance between personal anecdotes and her political discussions just felt a bit off at times and made this awkward to read.
➽ This is a nonfiction about the Asian American identity! I was interested to learn more about the topic and in Minor Feelings the author offers a collection of essays filled with personal anecdotes. I liked the discussions about the model minority myth, the intersection between race/art and assimilation into American culture. While I liked hearing what Cathy Park had to say, I wish her essays had a bigger connection and that the book felt more cohesive. Some chapters were simply more intriguing to me than others. I struggled the most with the chapters that were focused on her personal life, as it felt a bit invasive and detracted from the points she wanted to make. At one point she talked in-depth about a complicated friendship and her friend's mental health issues. That didn't feel like it had a place in this book and I wonder if her friends consented to having very personal things shared for everyone to read about. The balance between personal anecdotes and her political discussions just felt a bit off at times and made this awkward to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Mental illness, Murder, Death, Genocide, and Violence
Moderate: Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Torture, War, Colonisation, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
charlieeee's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Violence, Rape, Murder, and War
Minor: Eating disorder, Colonisation, Drug use, Torture, and Suicide attempt
jcstokes95's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This essay collection is remarkable. I honestly did not feel a single piece missed the mark; each one was thoughtful and a gorgeous mix of personal and informative. Cathy Hong Park really plumbs the depths here, of her communities’ tragedies and its shortcomings. She takes the time to tease out all the complications; she looks at the model minority myth in a way that makes the harm of it all so clear. She delves into racial self-hatred with depth rarely given to it. In retrospect, I wish I’d purchased a physical copy so I could mark this book up to hell. There are so many arresting lines.
Park writes about how white, American culture has imprinted on Asian-Americans brought here specifically because their jobs made them “worthy” or the right to immigrate to a country with historically closed borders. This pressure to maintain status and perfection has kept the model minority stereotype alive. Park rejects the American ideology that immigrants should be “grateful” or “compliant” to a nation that has refused to allow them to come into their own identity separate from a relation to whiteness.
I also loved the section on stand up as abrasive, storytelling that forces the audience into being viewed from the performer’s eyes. I like the idea that audience in this case can be the target and allow a comedian from an underrepresented/oppressed background to put the audience at risk of being on display.
Like many essay collections, there are points where it temporarily loses its thread. It could stand to be pulled tighter here by an editor, but it is a testament to the strength of Park’s writing style that this remains powerful and compelling despite these blips.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Murder, Rape, and Hate crime
leweylibrary's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.75
There's a lot going on in this book, and I'm glad that I at least read a good half of it as a physical copy rather than the audiobook I finished with. The author is a poet, and that is much clearer when I'm reading a physical copy and can mark parts that stand out to me. I read this for a book club, but I missed the last meeting. In the sessions I did go to, we had really rich discussions that elevated my opinion of the book greatly. The first half dealt a lot more with more abstract concepts and literature, but the second half moves more into talking about herself and her background in art and poetry while delving into deeper issues like her "bad English," internment camps, and the brutal rape and murder of a prominent Asian American artist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Body shaming, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Suicide attempt and War
Minor: Toxic relationship
jaqjak's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia and Racism
tanyxscreams's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape and Racism
an_library_stan's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
I learned a lot reading this. A mix of very personal individual stories and broader historical and social commentary.
Some people to look up:
- Lorraine O'Grady "in the future, white supremacy will no longer need white people"
- Yuri Kochiyama - Japanese American activist who organized with Malcolm X
History behind Asian American as a term (1968, UC Berkeley students coined)
History behind double eyelid surgery (American surgeon tested on Korean sex workers)
Briefly, history of Korean soldiers in Vietnam
History of Theresa Hak Kyung Chas art and rape and murder (1980s)
Some people to look up:
- Lorraine O'Grady "in the future, white supremacy will no longer need white people"
- Yuri Kochiyama - Japanese American activist who organized with Malcolm X
History behind Asian American as a term (1968, UC Berkeley students coined)
History behind double eyelid surgery (American surgeon tested on Korean sex workers)
Briefly, history of Korean soldiers in Vietnam
History of Theresa Hak Kyung Chas art and rape and murder (1980s)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Murder, Xenophobia, Racism, and War
cozjetez's review against another edition
challenging
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Murder, and Racism
siobhanward's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This book was well-written and felt really raw at points. Hong's exploration of Asian American identity and the intersectionality of race and art was honest and at times challenging to read. I really found her discussion of creating art as a person of colour to be interesting, especially when she points out that POC artists are expected to create "spectacles" that are large enough and racially traumatic enough to be interesting to others. Honestly, that really makes a lot of sense - so many books from POC authors that make best seller or book club lists are deeply rooted in racial trauma. It's rare that I see a POC author's name next to a best selling thriller or romance. Honestly, this gave me a lot to think about when I'm consuming media.
I found the second part of the book just wasn't as strong as the first - there was a lot of focus on Hong's university friends, which took away a bit from her story. It just didn't feel like it fit the narrative set in the fist part, but the book was still really well done and absolutely worth a read, even if it's just to help recognize some of your own biases or things you just don't always consider.
I found the second part of the book just wasn't as strong as the first - there was a lot of focus on Hong's university friends, which took away a bit from her story. It just didn't feel like it fit the narrative set in the fist part, but the book was still really well done and absolutely worth a read, even if it's just to help recognize some of your own biases or things you just don't always consider.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
lindseyhall44's review against another edition
reflective
5.0
I chose Minor Feelings as my choice nonfiction book for school, and I am incredibly glad I did. This essay collection mixes memoir, history, anthology, and more into a genre bending work of art about the Asian American experience and the pressure of assimilation. I cannot recommend this book enough!
——
The Portrait of an Artist and An Education were my two favorite essays, but every component of this collection brought a unique angle and style, which I appreciated.
——
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Hate crime, War, Xenophobia, and Toxic friendship