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A review by cherreadssharereads
Charlie Chan Is Dead 2: At Home in the World by Don Lee, Gina Apostol, Philip C.C. Huang, Carlos Bulosan, Peter Bacho, Ed Lin, Bienvenido Santos, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Ka Vang, Bharati Mukherjee, Akhil Sharma, Lois-Ann Yamanaka, Russell C. Leong, Monique Truong, Sara Chin, Eric Gamalinda, Chang-rae Lee, Jessica Hagedorn, David Wong Louie, Karen Tei Yamashita, Elaine H. Kim, Gish Jen, Karl Taro Greenfeld, Nora Okja Keller, Dao Strom, Han Ong, Jose Garcia Villa, R. Zamora Linmark, Darrell H.Y. Lum, Brian Ascalon Roley, Shawn Wong, Linh Dinh, Wakako Yamauchi, Ruth Ozeki, Christina Chiu, Peter Ho Davies, Christian Langworthy, Jhumpa Lahiri, Marilyn Chin, Sabina Murray, Hisaye Yamamoto, Lisa Asagi, Meera Nair, Ginu Kamani
5.0
Purchased this book almost three years ago when I was browsing a local bookstore waiting for dinner reservations. I consider it fate that this book snagged my eye and I ended up purchasing it -- what won me over was seeing Professor Elaine Kim's name on the cover, I'm not gonna lie. (Elaine Kim is a media studies prof at UC Berkeley and she is the reason I am so absorbed with Asian Americans in American media.) If you don't want to read the rest of this review, just know that I file this under MUST READ if you love literary fiction and/or you are looking to diversify your bookshelf.
This anthology of short stories by Asian Americans from all different walks of life took me on a whirlwind! Each story was so well-written, I was sucked into each story and spit out at the last period. I discovered new authors I had never heard of -- seriously feel like I've been living under a rock *cry emoji*. I had never heard of Theresa Cha before until I read Cathy Park Hong's essay on her life & death, and then I read her short in this anthology during the same week (what a coincidence, huh?!).
Several shorts that stood out to me and got me thinking long after the story was over:
- Gina Apostol surprised me with "Cunanan's Wake" because I didn't think of Andrew Cunanan as a person with a family who mourned him. My first introduction to Cunanan was via the show "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story," which tells the story of Andrew Cunanan's obsession with S&M and older gay men and how he plotted Versace's murder. (The show has forever changed the way I view actor Darren Criss because he was just TOO good in the show. Also, I couldn't finish the shower because of the violence.) The short humanized Cunanan for me and gave me a different perspective on him -- I mean, it doesn't justify or negate the fact that he is a killer and killed one of the most talented fashion icons the world has ever seen.
- "Submission" by Karl Taro Greenfeld painted such a realistic & poignant picture of Sandi’s desperation and meticulousness. I was rooting hard for Sandi because she’s Hong Kongnese and I have a soft spot for HK.
- Akhil Sharma's main character in "Surrounded By Sleep is a child and to hear his perspective on his brother's paralysis and brain incapacity was heart-wrenching.
- Ka Vang's dark humor and feminist thought hidden in “Ms. PAC-Man Ruined My Gang Life” haunted me along with visuals of the gang fights with scissors and screwdrivers.
Ending here for now, planning to revisit these shorts in a couple of years with renewed eyes.
This anthology of short stories by Asian Americans from all different walks of life took me on a whirlwind! Each story was so well-written, I was sucked into each story and spit out at the last period. I discovered new authors I had never heard of -- seriously feel like I've been living under a rock *cry emoji*. I had never heard of Theresa Cha before until I read Cathy Park Hong's essay on her life & death, and then I read her short in this anthology during the same week (what a coincidence, huh?!).
Several shorts that stood out to me and got me thinking long after the story was over:
- Gina Apostol surprised me with "Cunanan's Wake" because I didn't think of Andrew Cunanan as a person with a family who mourned him. My first introduction to Cunanan was via the show "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story," which tells the story of Andrew Cunanan's obsession with S&M and older gay men and how he plotted Versace's murder. (The show has forever changed the way I view actor Darren Criss because he was just TOO good in the show. Also, I couldn't finish the shower because of the violence.) The short humanized Cunanan for me and gave me a different perspective on him -- I mean, it doesn't justify or negate the fact that he is a killer and killed one of the most talented fashion icons the world has ever seen.
- "Submission" by Karl Taro Greenfeld painted such a realistic & poignant picture of Sandi’s desperation and meticulousness. I was rooting hard for Sandi because she’s Hong Kongnese and I have a soft spot for HK.
- Akhil Sharma's main character in "Surrounded By Sleep is a child and to hear his perspective on his brother's paralysis and brain incapacity was heart-wrenching.
- Ka Vang's dark humor and feminist thought hidden in “Ms. PAC-Man Ruined My Gang Life” haunted me along with visuals of the gang fights with scissors and screwdrivers.
Ending here for now, planning to revisit these shorts in a couple of years with renewed eyes.