“places where Real Life unfolded”
September 6, 2021 5:27 AM Subscribe
Anthony Veasna So explored what it was like to grow up as a queer son of Khmer refugees in Stockton, California. Last year he died suddenly at the age of 28, just after correcting the proofs of his debut story collection, Afterparties. Four of the nine stories can be found unpaywalled online, The Monks, Superking Son Scores Again, The Shop and Three Women of Chuck’s Donuts. He also wrote essays, including Manchester Street, about being sent to Khmer language classes as a kid, and Baby Yeah, a heartbreaking account of his friend who committed suicide and their shared love of the band Pavement. Equally heartbreaking is the reminiscence by his boyfriend Alex Torres about their relationship.
“I love you. You wrote these stories with me.”
Damn.
.
posted by LooseFilter at 9:46 AM on September 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
Damn.
.
posted by LooseFilter at 9:46 AM on September 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
.
posted by riruro at 10:14 AM on September 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by riruro at 10:14 AM on September 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
.
posted by wuwei at 11:48 AM on September 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by wuwei at 11:48 AM on September 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
great post.
The Cambodian American Writers Who Are Reimagining Cambodian Literature.
posted by clavdivs at 3:00 PM on September 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
The Cambodian American Writers Who Are Reimagining Cambodian Literature.
posted by clavdivs at 3:00 PM on September 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
The article that lalochezia links to in the first comment says, "On July 1, 2021, the medical examiner’s office of San Francisco released the official autopsy report determining that the cause of death was the 'toxic effects of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), methamphetamine, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).' There is no evidence of alcohol ingestion. The manner was determined as accidental."
posted by theatro at 5:38 PM on September 6, 2021
posted by theatro at 5:38 PM on September 6, 2021
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posted by limeonaire at 7:53 AM on September 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by limeonaire at 7:53 AM on September 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
Highly recommend Afterparties. I read it, and it was heavy, both from the Cambodian genocide perspective, and from the queer and otherwise marginalized kids in the US perspective. The loss of Anthony So will be keenly felt.
posted by Atrahasis at 9:55 AM on September 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Atrahasis at 9:55 AM on September 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I just finished Afterparties and posted this 5-star review
This book was so well-received by the media that it set a really high bar and I was sure I would not like it. I didn't love his essay in the New Yorker recently about his days at Stanford making art (and I just went and re-read it and still didn't like it). I was surprised that this book really really is great! I hope I don't set the bar too high for YOU, but I do strongly recommend it. The stories all feel real, they bring a community and its particular norms and eccentricities to life, they paint a picture of a time and place and a generation, they connect past to present. The stories are funny and sad and curious at the same time.
I started to wonder what it would be like to watch these stories brought to life in a television anthology (the book doesn't repeat characters or reference plot elements, but they are somehow exceptionally connected by the perspective of the second Cambo (Cambodian)-American Californian experience) - especially if people from that community took definitive ownership in producing those stories. (I'm sure it's not entirely complimentary to say that I imagined a TV show while reading the book, perhaps a better way would be that I could see and hear the people and even the emotion, just from reading).
posted by stevil at 6:12 PM on September 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
This book was so well-received by the media that it set a really high bar and I was sure I would not like it. I didn't love his essay in the New Yorker recently about his days at Stanford making art (and I just went and re-read it and still didn't like it). I was surprised that this book really really is great! I hope I don't set the bar too high for YOU, but I do strongly recommend it. The stories all feel real, they bring a community and its particular norms and eccentricities to life, they paint a picture of a time and place and a generation, they connect past to present. The stories are funny and sad and curious at the same time.
I started to wonder what it would be like to watch these stories brought to life in a television anthology (the book doesn't repeat characters or reference plot elements, but they are somehow exceptionally connected by the perspective of the second Cambo (Cambodian)-American Californian experience) - especially if people from that community took definitive ownership in producing those stories. (I'm sure it's not entirely complimentary to say that I imagined a TV show while reading the book, perhaps a better way would be that I could see and hear the people and even the emotion, just from reading).
posted by stevil at 6:12 PM on September 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
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posted by lalochezia at 6:03 AM on September 6, 2021 [4 favorites]