Disorientation: A Novel
A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE BOOK * NYPL YOUNG LIONS FINALIST * THURBER PRIZE FOR AMERICAN HUMOR FINALIST * SHORTLISTED FOR THE VCU CABELL FIRST NOVELIST AWARD * A BEST BOOK OF 2022 BY NPR, VOGUE, JEZEBEL AND BOOK RIOT * INDIE NEXT PICK * MALALA BOOK CLUB PICK * A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK BY GOODREADS, NYLON, BUZZFEED AND MORE
A Taiwanese American woman’s coming-of-consciousness ignites eye-opening revelations and chaos on a college campus in this outrageously hilarious and startlingly tender debut novel.
Twenty-nine-year-old PhD student Ingrid Yang is desperate to finish her dissertation on the late canonical poet Xiao-Wen Chou and never read about “Chinese-y” things again. But after years of grueling research, all she has to show for her efforts are a junk food addiction and stomach pain. When she accidentally stumbles upon a curious note in the Chou archives one afternoon, it looks like her ticket out of academic hell.
But Ingrid’s in much deeper than she thinks. Her clumsy exploits to unravel the note’s message lead to an explosive discovery, upending her entire life and the lives of those around her. What follows is a roller coaster of mishaps and misadventures, from book burnings and OTC drug hallucinations, to hot-button protests and Yellow Peril 2.0 propaganda. As the events Ingrid instigated keep spiraling, she’ll have to confront her sticky relationship to white men and white institutions—and, most of all, herself.
A blistering send-up of privilege and power, and a profound reckoning of individual complicity and unspoken rage, in Disorientation Elaine Hsieh Chou asks who gets to tell our stories—and how the story changes when we finally tell it ourselves.
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Community Reviews
Really enjoyable book. I had two main gripes with it, but honestly, neither really even feels right to call a criticism. They're more "this didn't work for me, but your mileage may vary":
-Ingrid is just... so willfully oblivious that it became a little grating at times. A certain level of obliviousness in her is an essential trait for the novel to function as it does, since so much of the book is about her realizing the internalized racism she has unwittingly lived with her whole life, but it's hard to not become annoyed with how long it takes her to come to conclusions that the reader figured out five chapters before. She's the same way with things unrelated to internalized racism as well, like (happens early, but putting a spoiler warning just to be safe) not quickly realizing the name written in the visitor log at the archive is written backwards. Retlaw Ekul Nosbig-> Walter Luke Gibson feels really obvious, to the point of comedy that it took her so long to realize it.
-Sometimes the characters were a bit much, even with it being a satire. The genre gives a lot more room for over-the-top characters, but it still didn't always land right with me. Michael is the best example of this, in my opinion. I totally buy his arc as a whole, but some of the details felt heavy-handed. Like, making Cixi dress like a 50s housewife in the later part of the book. Even without that detail, the reader would have been able to pick up on the dynamic between them and seen how manipulative and controlling it was.
-Ingrid is just... so willfully oblivious that it became a little grating at times. A certain level of obliviousness in her is an essential trait for the novel to function as it does, since so much of the book is about her realizing the internalized racism she has unwittingly lived with her whole life, but it's hard to not become annoyed with how long it takes her to come to conclusions that the reader figured out five chapters before. She's the same way with things unrelated to internalized racism as well, like (happens early, but putting a spoiler warning just to be safe) not quickly realizing the name written in the visitor log at the archive is written backwards. Retlaw Ekul Nosbig-> Walter Luke Gibson feels really obvious, to the point of comedy that it took her so long to realize it.
-Sometimes the characters were a bit much, even with it being a satire. The genre gives a lot more room for over-the-top characters, but it still didn't always land right with me. Michael is the best example of this, in my opinion. I totally buy his arc as a whole, but some of the details felt heavy-handed. Like, making Cixi dress like a 50s housewife in the later part of the book. Even without that detail, the reader would have been able to pick up on the dynamic between them and seen how manipulative and controlling it was.
// Many thanks to NetGalley who kindly provided me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review //
⭐️ 4/5
Publication date: 22nd of March 2022
29- year old PhD student Ingrid Yang is working on her dissertation on Xiao-Wen Chou; a poet she couldn’t care less about but was persuaded to study by her academic advisor. Her entire career long predetermined by racial, sexist bias and stereotyping, she slowly begins to question her sanity— and upon discovering a fateful note the credibility of her dissertation’s very object.
This was such a captivating read, I couldn’t put it down! Being an undergrad, I really liked the university setting and appreciated the protagonist's struggles of navigating the academic environment. The book does a good job commenting critically on elitism and racism within academia and the perceived pointlessness of living for a deadline. In its center, this is a story about cultural identity. The book touches on a number of different important topics such as fetishization, gaslighting and yellow face, and it does so without seeming too heavy or appearing to tackle too much at the same time. I really enjoyed the humor employed, it was in just the right tone for this book. We follow along to see Ingrid’s personal development, as well as her at times funny attempts to uncover her university’s well-kept secrets. Overall, a very enjoyable reading experience!!! If you enjoy reading very character focused adult books, this one is definitely worth giving a go.
On another note, the title is genius. It does not only reflect Ingrid’s struggles of navigating adult life, but it also deconstructs the very racist and western concept of Orientalism, which is responsible for how we view Asian countries and the Middle East from a western perspective. At least that was my interpretation (maybe I am interpreting too much into this?).
⭐️ 4/5
Publication date: 22nd of March 2022
29- year old PhD student Ingrid Yang is working on her dissertation on Xiao-Wen Chou; a poet she couldn’t care less about but was persuaded to study by her academic advisor. Her entire career long predetermined by racial, sexist bias and stereotyping, she slowly begins to question her sanity— and upon discovering a fateful note the credibility of her dissertation’s very object.
This was such a captivating read, I couldn’t put it down! Being an undergrad, I really liked the university setting and appreciated the protagonist's struggles of navigating the academic environment. The book does a good job commenting critically on elitism and racism within academia and the perceived pointlessness of living for a deadline. In its center, this is a story about cultural identity. The book touches on a number of different important topics such as fetishization, gaslighting and yellow face, and it does so without seeming too heavy or appearing to tackle too much at the same time. I really enjoyed the humor employed, it was in just the right tone for this book. We follow along to see Ingrid’s personal development, as well as her at times funny attempts to uncover her university’s well-kept secrets. Overall, a very enjoyable reading experience!!! If you enjoy reading very character focused adult books, this one is definitely worth giving a go.
On another note, the title is genius. It does not only reflect Ingrid’s struggles of navigating adult life, but it also deconstructs the very racist and western concept of Orientalism, which is responsible for how we view Asian countries and the Middle East from a western perspective. At least that was my interpretation (maybe I am interpreting too much into this?).
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