Reviews tagging 'Racism'
Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency by Chen Chen
11 reviews
courtneyfalling's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
I love how Chen Chen balances absurd humorous writing and unexpected turns of phrase with real, vulnerable self and interpersonal inspection. I will immediately trust buying anything Chen Chen writes.
Graphic: Racism and Homophobia
lifeinpoetry's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Homophobia, and Racism
shellroch285's review
challenging
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Chen Chen is just…so good. I love his humor, I love the way he arranges his poems, I love how they talk about things I would never expect to appear together in a piece. I feel like this poems make my soul glow <3
Moderate: Racism and Hate crime
siriface's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75
Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, and Racial slurs
robinks's review
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Another great collection by Chen! Navigating love and parents is never easy, especially as an Asian American queer person. Chen also does a lovely job of integrating difficult experiences with humor and storytelling. My favorites (in order of appearance):
- Doctor’s Note
- The School of Fury
- The School of Your Book/Letter to Jennifer S. Cheng
- Elegy While Listening to a Song I Can’t Help But Start to Move to
- One Year Later: A Letter
- Summer (p61)
- The School of Logic
- Chen No Middle Name Chen
- One Year Later: Her Answer
- I Invite My Parents to a Dinner Party
- ode to my beloveds & brevities
- The School of Eternities
- The School of Joy
- Doctor’s Note
- The School of Fury
- The School of Your Book/Letter to Jennifer S. Cheng
- Elegy While Listening to a Song I Can’t Help But Start to Move to
- One Year Later: A Letter
- Summer (p61)
- The School of Logic
- Chen No Middle Name Chen
- One Year Later: Her Answer
- I Invite My Parents to a Dinner Party
- ode to my beloveds & brevities
- The School of Eternities
- The School of Joy
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Car accident and Mass/school shootings
jazhandz's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
Moderate: Homophobia and Racism
toph444's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Moderate: Homophobia and Racism
woolgatherer's review
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Equally heartwarming and heartbreaking, Chen Chen’s second poetry collection hits hard with his exploration of family relations (blood and chosen), as well as the queer Asian American identity. These poems very much so reflect on being alive in and part of a beautiful yet also fucked up world (especially in the United States).
A lot of love and care went into each poem, and I loved the way Chen expressed himself so freely, not only in form but in switching between languages as well. Because, sometimes, English is simply not enough to express oneself, especially when one is stuck in the in-betweens of cultures.
I was especially taken to the “a small book of questions” poems, finding Chen’s reflections—especially when he was writing about his mother—poignant. Another lovely collection from Chen, and I look forward to his next work.
Some favorites: “we’ll be gone after these brief messages,” the “a small book of questions” poems, “Elegy While Listening to a Song I Can’t Help But Start to Move to,” “One Year Later: A Letter,” “Origin Story,” and “Spring Summer Autumn Winter”
Graphic: Racism and Homophobia
Moderate: Death
Minor: Mass/school shootings
fancymcgee's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
my friends and i went to chapters and spent 20 minutes trying to find the poetry collection, once we did we all sat down in the isle and pulled books out and laughed at how silly they were or how unoriginal and right before we left i pulled this one out and flipped to a small book of questions and i read it out loud and we all stopped. we sat in silence and i read another one. we drove home and while they got snacks from the gas station i sat in my car and read more.
Chen Chen reminds me why i love poetry.
thank you.
Chen Chen reminds me why i love poetry.
thank you.
Graphic: Homophobia and Racism
cheezh8er's review
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Moderate: Homophobia, Death, and Racism