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Reviews tagging 'Racism'
Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency by Chen Chen
14 reviews
mizreads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
3.0
“because a not-so-small part of her
would rather miss me
than listen to me”
would rather miss me
than listen to me”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content and Racism
monalyisha's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Chen Chen has a way of criticizing people who criticize his poems with such a succinct and biting wit that you NEVER want to criticize one of his poems. 🙈 However, I, too, would prefer that he not use the word “poop” or share so mindfully about his bowel movements. Some would label him immature for indulging in “potty talk.” Others would call the intensity of the taboo itself immature.
What’s not immature is the deep respect he has for language, how he parses it, and how he plays with it. He understands what (and who) is considered beautiful and what is not; what (and who) is considered intellectual, deep, and profound, and what is not; he embraces these ideas AND upends them to great effect.
I enjoyed this collection less than “When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities.” Still, there are poems I loved (“The School of Fury”, “a small book of questions: chapter iii”, “Summer” [Your emergency contact…], “Summer” [The sunflowers fall…], “The School of Eternities”, & “我疼你”) — poems which have nary a whiff of the aforementioned taboo. When I finished ““I am reminded via email to resubmit my preferences for the schedule”, I read it again. And I cried (with a sense of yearning). Then, I read it again.
I respect Chen Chen for being so very much himself. And when I grow up, I still want to be Chen’s friend (even if it means that he’d inevitably expose an invalid critique I made or something ignorant I said in one of his works; it’d be so beyond worth it. Imagine watching just a single episode of Buffy by his side).
*Some favorite lines include:
•from “Summer” [Your emergency contact…]:
“The mother cockroach says, “In the event of a sudden loss of cabin meaning, back-up meanings will drop from the overhead compartment…Please grab hold of a meaning & pull it to your face.”
•from “Summer” [the sunflowers fall…]:
“Many of the things I miss are pretty silly. Pretty & silly, & I miss them deeply.”
“I think it’s what any artist hopes for: not only to be remembered, but to be company.”
•from The School of Night & Hyphens”:
“come teach me a little bit
of nothing, in the dark
abundant hours.”
What’s not immature is the deep respect he has for language, how he parses it, and how he plays with it. He understands what (and who) is considered beautiful and what is not; what (and who) is considered intellectual, deep, and profound, and what is not; he embraces these ideas AND upends them to great effect.
I enjoyed this collection less than “When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities.” Still, there are poems I loved (“The School of Fury”, “a small book of questions: chapter iii”, “Summer” [Your emergency contact…], “Summer” [The sunflowers fall…], “The School of Eternities”, & “我疼你”) — poems which have nary a whiff of the aforementioned taboo. When I finished ““I am reminded via email to resubmit my preferences for the schedule”, I read it again. And I cried (with a sense of yearning). Then, I read it again.
I respect Chen Chen for being so very much himself. And when I grow up, I still want to be Chen’s friend (even if it means that he’d inevitably expose an invalid critique I made or something ignorant I said in one of his works; it’d be so beyond worth it. Imagine watching just a single episode of Buffy by his side).
*Some favorite lines include:
•from “Summer” [Your emergency contact…]:
“The mother cockroach says, “In the event of a sudden loss of cabin meaning, back-up meanings will drop from the overhead compartment…Please grab hold of a meaning & pull it to your face.”
•from “Summer” [the sunflowers fall…]:
“Many of the things I miss are pretty silly. Pretty & silly, & I miss them deeply.”
“I think it’s what any artist hopes for: not only to be remembered, but to be company.”
•from The School of Night & Hyphens”:
“come teach me a little bit
of nothing, in the dark
abundant hours.”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, and Hate crime
avisreadsandreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Excrement, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Death, and Homophobia
Minor: Car accident
courtneyfalling's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
I love how Chen Chen balances absurd humorous writing and unexpected turns of phrase with real, vulnerable self and interpersonal inspection. I will immediately trust buying anything Chen Chen writes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Homophobia
lifeinpoetry's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Homophobia, and Racism
shellroch285's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Chen Chen is just…so good. I love his humor, I love the way he arranges his poems, I love how they talk about things I would never expect to appear together in a piece. I feel like this poems make my soul glow <3
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Hate crime
siriface's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, and Racial slurs
robinks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Another great collection by Chen! Navigating love and parents is never easy, especially as an Asian American queer person. Chen also does a lovely job of integrating difficult experiences with humor and storytelling. My favorites (in order of appearance):
- Doctor’s Note
- The School of Fury
- The School of Your Book/Letter to Jennifer S. Cheng
- Elegy While Listening to a Song I Can’t Help But Start to Move to
- One Year Later: A Letter
- Summer (p61)
- The School of Logic
- Chen No Middle Name Chen
- One Year Later: Her Answer
- I Invite My Parents to a Dinner Party
- ode to my beloveds & brevities
- The School of Eternities
- The School of Joy
- Doctor’s Note
- The School of Fury
- The School of Your Book/Letter to Jennifer S. Cheng
- Elegy While Listening to a Song I Can’t Help But Start to Move to
- One Year Later: A Letter
- Summer (p61)
- The School of Logic
- Chen No Middle Name Chen
- One Year Later: Her Answer
- I Invite My Parents to a Dinner Party
- ode to my beloveds & brevities
- The School of Eternities
- The School of Joy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Car accident and Mass/school shootings
jazhandz's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
Moderate: Homophobia and Racism
toph444's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Racism