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mandirigma's review
2.0
This is a collection of Wesley Yang's previously published work, which wouldn't have been a bad thing, but the content really underdelivered on the promise of the title and introduction. I had expected essays on race and specifically on the Asian American experience, or even something vaguely reminiscent of DuBois and I got none of that.
Part I did profile some Asian American figures, including Seung-Hui Cho, Amy Chua, and Eddie Huang. Parts II and III were a bunch of profiles on white men, Francis Fukuyama, and the dating scene, a few of which I had to skim through (and I could not bring myself to read the essay on pickup artists, sorry). Part IV was the only section about race, but it was specifically about whiteness and written for a white audience.
I think most readers would say strongest essay in the volume is the one on Cho, though it was written/published a whole decade ago, and some of the implications made in the essay don't sit well with me in 2019 (the book, in general, seems to uphold the status quo on men/masculinity/male gaze). I actually really enjoyed his piece on Chua and Asian American overachievement, but I was surprised that, throughout the rest of the book, Yang really doesn't reference any other contemporary Asian American writers, or even Asian American studies as a discipline. It should also be noted that with the exception of Chua, women are largely absent from this book.
I would've given the book three stars if not for Part IV. I don't know if this is fair but it's my GR account, and the essays on whiteness felt like a total bait-and-switch on the title. In the earlier essays of the book, he seems to want to stand out from other Asian Americans, but he doesn't really interrogate Asian Americanness or what it is he wants to stand out from beyond busting out of the model minority myth and just not rocking the boat in the workplace. Which are all things that have already been written about and deconstructed at length by other Asian American scholars.
And yet, his essays on whiteness are highly critical of the language of social justice and tactics to combat racism outside of academia without just saying outright that he thinks Black Lives Matter maybe needs to cool it. What he seems to be saying in his final essays is that young people are too easily outraged, that critical race theory is better suited for academia than Twitter, and that if everything is white supremacy then nothing is white supremacy. Which is totally not what I would have expected of a book titled, "The Souls of Yellow Folk."
Part I did profile some Asian American figures, including Seung-Hui Cho, Amy Chua, and Eddie Huang. Parts II and III were a bunch of profiles on white men, Francis Fukuyama, and the dating scene, a few of which I had to skim through (and I could not bring myself to read the essay on pickup artists, sorry). Part IV was the only section about race, but it was specifically about whiteness and written for a white audience.
I think most readers would say strongest essay in the volume is the one on Cho, though it was written/published a whole decade ago, and some of the implications made in the essay don't sit well with me in 2019 (the book, in general, seems to uphold the status quo on men/masculinity/male gaze). I actually really enjoyed his piece on Chua and Asian American overachievement, but I was surprised that, throughout the rest of the book, Yang really doesn't reference any other contemporary Asian American writers, or even Asian American studies as a discipline. It should also be noted that with the exception of Chua, women are largely absent from this book.
I would've given the book three stars if not for Part IV. I don't know if this is fair but it's my GR account, and the essays on whiteness felt like a total bait-and-switch on the title. In the earlier essays of the book, he seems to want to stand out from other Asian Americans, but he doesn't really interrogate Asian Americanness or what it is he wants to stand out from beyond busting out of the model minority myth and just not rocking the boat in the workplace. Which are all things that have already been written about and deconstructed at length by other Asian American scholars.
And yet, his essays on whiteness are highly critical of the language of social justice and tactics to combat racism outside of academia without just saying outright that he thinks Black Lives Matter maybe needs to cool it. What he seems to be saying in his final essays is that young people are too easily outraged, that critical race theory is better suited for academia than Twitter, and that if everything is white supremacy then nothing is white supremacy. Which is totally not what I would have expected of a book titled, "The Souls of Yellow Folk."
huycantread's review against another edition
3.0
The writing was fine, but the content felt like his publishing deal came out way too late (2018) - like why are we writing/reading about pick-up artists, the invention of reddit and Grindr, etc. I liked his writing on Asian America like the Virginia Tech shooting and Eddie Haung/Fresh Off the Boat (because that’s what I came into the book looking for!) but that was only a third of the book and still felt outdated and reiterative. Sophia Nguyen’s review of the book in Slate got his ass though.
notoriousesr's review against another edition
honestly i kinda think he hates women
indigo78180's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Thought-provoking and engaging, but doesn’t really seem to get to the heart of most things it discusses. It lacks drive and doesn’t live up to the name.
cayley_graph's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
A contemplative quick read while I did chores. This was a collection of essays, all of which have appeared in papers like the Guardian, on a variety of topics, including the experience of being East Asian descent, especially from immigrant families, in the United States, but also many other interesting topics. I appreciated the titular essay; it read as an open, deeply felt reflection on a complex issue. I also felt the discomfort in Wesley Yang being asked to write about the mass shooter because they shared ethnicity; there’s a feeling of otherness (and being ordered), that the violence and aggression of this individual spreads to you, simply because you look like them. I also agree that there is a micro aggressive notion that the faces of East Asian people are not expressive; there is a further notion that they do not have feelings.
karaswils's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
2.0
Like others have said, the title is misleading. The overall gist of the essays is that Asian American men are outcasts and invisible in a culture where they can never truly “win.” The tone lends itself to despair. I like Yang’s writing style, though.
jiscoo's review against another edition
demonstrative of a deeply malignant and frighteningly familiar strain of asian american masculinity. this is a book that I (as a korean american woman) would be terrified to see in the hands of the korean american men I know.
on a lighter (?) note, I would be willing to bet yang has never read a word of dubois.
edit: unsurprisingly, yang is a very vocal twitter transphobe. what hypocrisy, what ignorance, to write a collection of essays appealing for sympathy and acceptance of one's own social group and then ridiculing and dehumanizing another (comparatively far more marginalized) group's advocacy for basic rights and respect.
on a lighter (?) note, I would be willing to bet yang has never read a word of dubois.
edit: unsurprisingly, yang is a very vocal twitter transphobe. what hypocrisy, what ignorance, to write a collection of essays appealing for sympathy and acceptance of one's own social group and then ridiculing and dehumanizing another (comparatively far more marginalized) group's advocacy for basic rights and respect.