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stillhouette's review
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Precise, painful, and insightful.
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol
vickizliu's review
5.0
I'm a big fan of all of Hua Hsu's essays in the NYer and this was no different. It's a bittersweet coming of age story of growing up in berkeley california as an alternative 90s kid and his unlikely friendship with a Japanese American frat boy friend Ken. I especially loved that it centered the male asian american experience, without that being the sole focus (it's first and foremost a story of friendship and grief). Really beautiful yet subtle writing style and the descriptions of little moments in the book captured how much of a profound influence his friend and death had on him.