minipurr's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
2.25
I had wanted to read this for years, and know so many people who absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, I had to force myself to finish it.
Some essays were lovely like “The Rosary” and “Mr. and Mrs. B”, and the title essay was powerful. As someone who loves reading essays, I know that a collection that includes everything from queer stories, family history and issues, growing up as an Asian American to using writing a novel as a way of retrieving buried emotions and memories, is hard to come by and something we’ll never have enough of. There were golden bits in this collection for sure.
But, oh my, was this hard to read. It started when I learned that he grew up in Cape Elizabeth, one of the most wealthy and privileged communities in the entire state. And I feel like Chee tried all his life to distance himself from that fact.
I also felt like I was reading what Chee wanted himself to believe. He spoke a lot about how naturally gifted he was, how he was the only one to become fluent in Spanish that one summer, and recounts all the fellowships he won, all the famous writers he studied under, speeches at Yale, how he got into the Iowa Writers Workshop when his boyfriend hadn’t, Chloe Sevigny learning his name, using his expensive Italian sports car as a lighter, etc. This memoir felt more like a long list of humblebrags. He writes like an only child would.
As someone touted to be one of the “finest essayists of our generation”, I was disappointed. I felt like the writing itself was lackluster, lines of beautifully written ‘nothing’. There was no Honesty or Clarity here.
I am not proud of this review, but felt like I had to write how I felt. I do, however, want to grow a beautiful rose garden.
Some essays were lovely like “The Rosary” and “Mr. and Mrs. B”, and the title essay was powerful. As someone who loves reading essays, I know that a collection that includes everything from queer stories, family history and issues, growing up as an Asian American to using writing a novel as a way of retrieving buried emotions and memories, is hard to come by and something we’ll never have enough of. There were golden bits in this collection for sure.
But, oh my, was this hard to read. It started when I learned that he grew up in Cape Elizabeth, one of the most wealthy and privileged communities in the entire state. And I feel like Chee tried all his life to distance himself from that fact.
I also felt like I was reading what Chee wanted himself to believe. He spoke a lot about how naturally gifted he was, how he was the only one to become fluent in Spanish that one summer, and recounts all the fellowships he won, all the famous writers he studied under, speeches at Yale, how he got into the Iowa Writers Workshop when his boyfriend hadn’t, Chloe Sevigny learning his name, using his expensive Italian sports car as a lighter, etc. This memoir felt more like a long list of humblebrags. He writes like an only child would.
As someone touted to be one of the “finest essayists of our generation”, I was disappointed. I felt like the writing itself was lackluster, lines of beautifully written ‘nothing’. There was no Honesty or Clarity here.
I am not proud of this review, but felt like I had to write how I felt. I do, however, want to grow a beautiful rose garden.
kstookley's review
4.0
Some of these essays were amazing, some were less so. Some could have been cut and have not changed the tenor of the book. Beautiful language, especially when Chee marries the abstract with the sensory and visceral, like with his essay "The Rosary." The same goes for his discussions about writing, which obviously frequently occur.
alexikakon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
aeleni's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.75
karinacheah17's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: War and Racial slurs
rileygboard's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
I liked some stories more than others. Stand outs, to me, include “The Rosary”, “Mr. and Mrs. B” and the one about Annie Dillard. Others fell flat, didn’t feel like their own stories, or just didn’t capture me.
If I were the editor of this book, I would omit multiple introductions of the same information across stories. I understand that these were written as separate essays at separate times, but for the sake of a collection bound together with intentionality, why not remove all the times Chee reexplains that he moved from San Fransisco to LA, or worked at a queer bookstore, or as an ACT UP activist?
Despite the story “The Inheritance” I don’t think Chee ever really appropriately reckons with the fact of his own wealth, because so much the the novel seems to be about the plight of his own “poverty” without acknowledging that it’s of his own making. He’s sympathetic to the systemically impoverished, and works their jobs, but only because he spent his inheritance on a sports car the second he could.
Chee writes like an only child, and I was always surprised when I came across a rare reminder that he is not.
If I were the editor of this book, I would omit multiple introductions of the same information across stories. I understand that these were written as separate essays at separate times, but for the sake of a collection bound together with intentionality, why not remove all the times Chee reexplains that he moved from San Fransisco to LA, or worked at a queer bookstore, or as an ACT UP activist?
Despite the story “The Inheritance” I don’t think Chee ever really appropriately reckons with the fact of his own wealth, because so much the the novel seems to be about the plight of his own “poverty” without acknowledging that it’s of his own making. He’s sympathetic to the systemically impoverished, and works their jobs, but only because he spent his inheritance on a sports car the second he could.
Chee writes like an only child, and I was always surprised when I came across a rare reminder that he is not.
cconifer86's review
5.0
I so much enjoyed immersing myself in the life of Alexander Chee for the past few days. Definitely a book that deserves a re-read.