Afterparties
Thoughts on Anthony Veasna So’s book, published posthumously
The book was made aware to my by a colleague, who’d recommended it on its ‘edginess’, and how it had reminded them of me. The story is written by So, a gay, Cambodian-American (not Asian-American) kid, who grew up in Stockton, California. He weaves in the narratives of the people he grew up with across chapters, alongside themes of genocide, immigration, queerness, and its unfolding in suburban, middle America.
Two chapters especially stuck out. Spoiler alert for those planning to read it. First is the chapter on the afterparty of a cousin’s wedding, whereby So uses the afterparty as the metaphor for grounds where all the pleasures of the present and pains of the past converge, as told through the lens of two brothers. So overlays this chapter beautifully with dialogue and narrative that is both desperate and hopeful, jaded but yearning, for something more (making meaning of the present via the past).
The second chapter that stuck out was the final one, in which So writes from the perspective of his mother to him, as she recounts a memory she had of So. The mother speaks to him from afar, a distant tone, but one in which the mother sees truth about how So is in the world. By writing from the mothers view, So vocalises how he has come to be from his mother’s past; how she has shaped him, and ultimately inspired him to write – and, since his passing, leave behind – this book.
A great read. Simple, and relatable.