lucymccarthy's review
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
mawaridi's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
Loved this short story collection, Cho's experiments with structure and identity and postmodern playfulness are just so much fun to read. The last story didn't hit as well was the others for me but that's more personal preference than the quality of the writing, which is a delight throughout.
__nyx__'s review
5.0
An incredibly and interestingly exploration of the taboo through experimental writing that intertwines experience, desire, fantasy, and yearning, all the while nestling a curious naivety.
goolaina's review against another edition
3.0
I, uh... I don't know what I just read. It feels like this is a collection of the most entertaining entries from Cho's dream journal, and I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult or both?
jorghahaq's review
5.0
This is one of my creative writing professors favourite books. She had us read one of the short stories from this book while we were studying different styles. The style can only be described as "bad fan fiction" but that is what is okay. It's what makes it so great, that someone with a PhD in writing chose to write this way. After reading the selection that my professor had us read, I had to read rest of the book.
Bad fan fiction aside, this book delves into answering the questions "who am I?" and "where do I fit in?" He takes a look at who he would be in various pop culture scenarios like Dirty Dancing and the Sound of Music. how he and his aunt would be if they were on Dr Phil. I personally like how he writes about his family.
This is really the sort of book that I would give all my friends as a gift for their birthday or some other major holiday.
Bad fan fiction aside, this book delves into answering the questions "who am I?" and "where do I fit in?" He takes a look at who he would be in various pop culture scenarios like Dirty Dancing and the Sound of Music. how he and his aunt would be if they were on Dr Phil. I personally like how he writes about his family.
This is really the sort of book that I would give all my friends as a gift for their birthday or some other major holiday.
holmesstorybooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
thepoptimist's review
3.0
Short collection of pop culture mash-ups roving from Sweet Valley High to David Hasselhof, Dirty Dancing to Dr Phil.
Sometimes it's gleefully off kilter like the corporate business consultant hired by Jim Henson to "maintain financial viability in balance with artistic integrity" who wakes up having been turned into The Electric Mayhem's id-fuelled drummer, Animal. Or the 180 foot tall cock rock god rampaging downtown Tokyo while whaling out hits from KISS, Warrant and AC/DC.
Perhaps no one explains it better than the author's possessed Auntie Wei who, while buttering her muffin with a crucifix screams "my work on the this collection demonstrates that I am capable of: 1) producing a body of short works that are thematically linked, and 2) working productively with the assistance of arts funding support."
Yeah, it's a lot. Maybe it's the hyper-sensitivity of the migrant experience where it feels like all the clues to fitting in are there in the culture around you — or maybe it's just that when you gaze into the muppet's eyes for too long you find you've become the muppet.
Sometimes it's gleefully off kilter like the corporate business consultant hired by Jim Henson to "maintain financial viability in balance with artistic integrity" who wakes up having been turned into The Electric Mayhem's id-fuelled drummer, Animal. Or the 180 foot tall cock rock god rampaging downtown Tokyo while whaling out hits from KISS, Warrant and AC/DC.
Perhaps no one explains it better than the author's possessed Auntie Wei who, while buttering her muffin with a crucifix screams "my work on the this collection demonstrates that I am capable of: 1) producing a body of short works that are thematically linked, and 2) working productively with the assistance of arts funding support."
Yeah, it's a lot. Maybe it's the hyper-sensitivity of the migrant experience where it feels like all the clues to fitting in are there in the culture around you — or maybe it's just that when you gaze into the muppet's eyes for too long you find you've become the muppet.