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A review by waiehse
The Souls of Yellow Folk: Essays by Wesley Yang
4.0
I agree with every other goodreads review in that this title is hella misleading (though understandable since "The Souls of Nerds and Losers" is probably less marketable). That said, I really enjoyed almost every essay and sped through this book! Yang's writing is such an interesting balance of detached journalist and passionate advocate. I felt like I was reading episodes of an NPR podcast without the "awwww :'0" factor and slightly less left leaning.
This book is a collection of essays, most of which focus on a specific person. Many of these people are the nerdy intellectual types and the essays walk you through how they deal with being society's losers. The first few essays deal with Asian American men and examines the specific class of neutered socially inept computer geek persona ascribed to these men. Many of the negative reviews about this book are that it only focuses on the male perspective. My opinion is that the experience and Western perceptions (fetishization) of Asian women are so different from that of men that a shift in viewpoint and topic would have felt very out of place in this book.
One more thing for anyone interested in reading this book, note that not only is it from a male perspective, but it is definitively the Asian American perspective. While Yang states that he renounces both standard Asian culture and standard American culture, his voice and opinions seem very Americanized. This is not the book for you if you're interested in understanding the point of view of Asian people but it does give an insight into the experience of Asian Americans/ABC/ABK(?) men.
https://youtu.be/ejtnAvMHI28?t=839
This book is a collection of essays, most of which focus on a specific person. Many of these people are the nerdy intellectual types and the essays walk you through how they deal with being society's losers. The first few essays deal with Asian American men and examines the specific class of neutered socially inept computer geek persona ascribed to these men. Many of the negative reviews about this book are that it only focuses on the male perspective. My opinion is that the experience and Western perceptions (fetishization) of Asian women are so different from that of men that a shift in viewpoint and topic would have felt very out of place in this book.
One more thing for anyone interested in reading this book, note that not only is it from a male perspective, but it is definitively the Asian American perspective. While Yang states that he renounces both standard Asian culture and standard American culture, his voice and opinions seem very Americanized. This is not the book for you if you're interested in understanding the point of view of Asian people but it does give an insight into the experience of Asian Americans/ABC/ABK(?) men.
https://youtu.be/ejtnAvMHI28?t=839