Review by Booklist Review
The posthumous publication of So's sparkling Afterparties (2021) catapulted him into literary superstardom; his stories are set to be adapted for a television series. His accidental death in 2020 at just 28 undoubtedly truncated a brilliant, raw talent; enthralled by his prodigious debut, his devotees understandably want more. These "essays and outtakes" populate a hybrid title, admiringly introduced by So's MFA teacher and adviser, Jonathan Dee (Sugar Street, 2022). Of these 14 entries, six are personal essays (five previously published) that range in subject from "It was hard growing up Cambodian American," especially without role models, to father-son memories as a Stanford undergraduate returning home to help with house repair to the lead-up and aftermath of a beloved friend's suicide. The other eight pieces constitute chapters of an unfinished novel (his graduate thesis), Straight thru Cambotown, centering on the diverging adult lives of three Cambodian American cousins. So's essays resonate with vulnerable eloquence, but his potency lies in storytelling, effortlessly creating immersive worlds animated by familiar, vital characters, their vibrancy further magnifying the poignant loss of what could have been.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This magnificent posthumous collection by So (Afterparties), who died in 2020, brings together the short story writer's essays and excerpts from his unfinished novel. In "Journey to a Land Free of White People," So discusses his ambivalence about the film Crazy Rich Asians, recounting the "tenderness I felt watching" a set of "wildly different" Asian characters represented on screen while criticizing the film's ending as a facile reconciliation of the "cultural contradictions" between the female protagonist's Asian American upbringing and her boyfriend's Singaporean family. "Baby Yeah," the compendium's most intimate essay, is a visceral meditation on So's struggle to cope with the suicide of a close friend from his creative writing program: "What is remembering other than revitalizing a corpse that will return to its grave?" Chapters from Straight Thru Cambotown, the novel So was working on at the time of his death, focus on a Cambodian neighborhood in Los Angeles County shaken by the sudden death of Ming Peou, a pillar of the community and organizer of its unofficial bank. So's distinctive voice blends mordant cultural criticism with a striking combination of humor, compassion, and insight. This is a bittersweet testament to an astounding talent. (Dec.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Fragments from an unfinished life. In his first book of stories, Afterparties, Veasna So (1992-2020) took readers to California's Central Valley to explore the lives of second-generation Cambodian Americans and their parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles--people who fled their home during the Khmer Rouge's campaign of genocide during the 1970s. Sadly, the author did not live to see his debut become a critical and commercial success. This anthology is a collection of writings he left behind, a mix of fiction and nonfiction, some previously published, some appearing for the first time. The essays cover a broad range of topics. In tone, they range from the thoroughly personal to the erudite, and the fact that the most scholarly piece is about reality TV says a lot about this writer's ability to mix so-called high and low style. There's a lot happening in this critique, but one anecdote stands out: Veasno So's description of watching Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's food-and-wine expert crown the homecoming king and queen at Syracuse University--an event that would have been surreal even if the author hadn't been high on poppers. An astute, heartfelt review of the film Crazy Rich Asians, written for n+1, begins with a paragraph that is, all by itself, a tiny masterpiece. "Baby Yeah" is about the author's love of Pavement and a friend who took his own life, and reading it knowing that he lost his own life to an accidental drug overdose is devastating. Most of the fiction here is from Straight Thru Cambotown, the novel Veasna So was working on at the time of his death. It seems impossible to read these excerpts without wishing for more--from these characters, from this narrative, for this author. Another posthumous publication from a writer who was only just discovering his brilliance. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
