Reviews

Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life by Alice Wong

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daagomez's review

inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

This collection is so inspirational. It captures Alice Wong's experiences, memories and aspirations so well that you feel her spirit carried on through this memoir. It's a funny but serious introduction to the struggles and anecdotes that come with living as a disabled version, to the point of being considerably educative. Truly fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable read.

ohemgeebooks's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

crip_raptor's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective slow-paced

5.0

I really enjoyed this collection of essays! I read Disability Visibility a few years ago and it really impacted me. Year of the Tiger gave me more insight into Alice Wong‘s life. I listened to the audio book and am curious why some of the recorded conversations weren’t played in their original state. Would have loved to hear the speakers’ voices and it would have made the audiobook as eclectic of a reading experience as the physical book, which has a mix of photographs, worksheets, recipes, etc. between the essays.

micsar's review

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challenging funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

underthestars9's review

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4.5

I have never read a memoir quite like this, I absolutely loved it, even with the transcribed interviews which are not usually my favorite. Alice invites you to have an intimate look into her life - on her terms and conditions. It's not a trauma tell-all, or a tooting of horns, or trying to be anything that it isn't naturally. It's just Alice as she is, without concern about being a perfect memoir and without concern about pleasing, comforting, or being understood by abled (and white) people.

After reading Alice's anthologies and following her work, this memoir lets her put the spotlight onto herself and her creativity and voice really shine through.

I both read the print copy and listened to the audiobook. Audio was not the ideal format for this book in my opinion, but the audio wasn't unlistenable by any means. I think Nancy Wu did a great job in picking up Alice's personality in her narration, but the transcribed podcasts and interviews just do not translate (back) into audio smoothly. And her voice of W Kamau Bell didn't seem in the best taste and made me vaguely uncomfortable, particularly compared to how she voiced other interviews/podcasts. But that could just be me.

As a disabled person, I find Alice's work as a space to rest and be seen and held up by disabled love, resilience, and radiance. This memoir is no exception. It feels as if Alice has invited us into her home for a nice meal among disabled kin and community, and I am grateful to her for holding this space.