Select Asian American Literary Works

It’s the last couple of days of AAPI Heritage Month 2021, and as the month draws to a close, I want to highlight select literary works that I have or intend to read.

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American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang: I read this as part of a graphic novel unit in tenth grade, and I have since reread it to see if those themes still persist today. They in fact do. The novel describes three different stories, one about a first-general Chinese immigrant boy, one about the story of the Monkey King, and one about a white American boy with a Chinese cousin. A must-read for those into graphic novels. 

“It's easy to become anything you wish . . . so long as you're willing to forfeit your soul.” - American Born Chinese

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Clay Walls, by Kim Ronyoung: Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, this novel explores unique Korean cultural thought and how it is perceived by the so-called American “melting pot”. It follows the story of an arranged married couple and how the husband and wife, while coming from different schools of traditional Eastern thought, navigate through American society. While the novel was published in 1987, the book’s themes of sharing one’s story to bring others together continues to resonate to this day. 

"[Reading is] just a way for me to see how other people live. I haven't found a book yet written about the people I know." -  Clay Walls

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How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays, by Alexander Chee: While Chee was best known for his fictional novels such as Edinburgh and The Queen of the Night, I was most drawn to his collection of essays. Some of the essays are adapted from previous publications, but Chee explores a wide range of themes, including boyhood, politics, gay activism, writing, and identity. 

"Sometimes you don't know who you are until you put on a mask." - How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

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Night Sky With Exit Wounds, by Ocean Vuong: This collection of poems contains themes of loss, pain, family, and transformation, with hints of his Vietnamese background apparent in many of the pieces. Some poems focused on familial motivations while others also painted vivid imagery of the Fall of Saigon and the experiences of the 9/11 attacks. This collection won the T.S. Eliot prize in 2017. While Vuong was first known for his poetry, he debuted his first novel in 2019 called On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. I plan to read that as well. 

“If you must know anything, know that the hardest task is to live only once.” - Night Sky With Exit Wounds