Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So
Review of Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So
“I know I was supposed to find a legitimate job, but at this point in my life, dumb epiphanies about home seemed so precious, urgent, fleeting.”
Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So (2021). Published by Ecco.
I’ve heard about So’s work for the longest while, even before his recent tragic death before this book came out. His short stories have appeared in a lot of big publications, and I remember his work being championed by other Asian-American writers.
I follow a lot of Asian-American writers myself on Twitter and Instagram, and I remember when this collection was announced I added it to my TBR list. And then he died, reaffirming my need to read this collection as everyone posted about him and his talent. So he got his MFA from Syracuse University, which is a really good school to get an MFA from and competitive to get into, so from the get-go it was shown that he had a lot of talent.
Afterparties is reminiscent of So’s background, being the child of Khmer parents who had immigrated to California after the genocide. And this is the background of many of the characters we follow in this collection. Cambodian-Americans are the children of genocide.
For many, they have entire families that remember the war and tragedy that came with the Khmer Rouge. For me, I have always been interested in Cambodian history, and as a researcher and writer who devotes my life and work to trauma, this is such a fascinating book to devour.
Let’s dive into this review, shall we?
Book Blurb
Seamlessly transitioning between the absurd and the tenderhearted, balancing acerbic humor with sharp emotional depth, Afterparties offers an expansive portrait of the lives of Cambodian-Americans. As the children of refugees carve out radical new paths for themselves in California, they shoulder the inherited weight of the Khmer Rouge genocide and grapple with the complexities of race, sexuality, friendship, and family.
A high school badminton coach and failing grocery store owner tries to relive his glory days by beating a rising star teenage player. Two drunken brothers attend a wedding afterparty and hatch a plan to expose their shady uncle’s snubbing of the bride and groom. A queer love affair sparks between an older tech entrepreneur trying to launch a “safe space” app and a disillusioned young teacher obsessed with Moby-Dick. And in the sweeping final story, a nine-year-old child learns that his mother survived a racist school shooter.
With nuanced emotional precision, gritty humor, and compassionate insight into the intimacy of queer and immigrant communities, the stories in Afterparties deliver an explosive introduction to the work of Anthony Veasna So.
Content
From the very first story, we’re set up for what this collection is going to be about. We follow a family that owns a donut shop in California, whose father cheated on the mother and left them with this decaying shop with no business. The mother has borrowed money from the mob in Cambodia in order to fund the opening of the shop in the past, so she lives in fear of them coming back to come and collect their money since the father took the loan repayments and gave them to his second family.
When a mysterious man keeps coming into the shop and only orders apple fritters he never actually manages to eat, the young daughters take a keen interest in him, kickstarting the plot of this story into the higher drive. I really liked this story, and thought that it set us up for such good pacing that I thought we would see consistently.
However, I did not like the following stories as much as I did the first two. The rhythm and comedic effect trapped within these short stories is almost perfect at times, but there are just some plot points and stories I couldn’t get into, like the third story involving the guy who sells produce.
But if there is something magical about these stories, it’s about how they get you to understand the world the characters are living in. I felt like I came out of this understanding the plight of Cambodian-Americans, their superstitions, and their history much more than I would’ve if I hadn’t read this collection. There’s humor woven with these stories but then they are so deep they cut at your heart.
There are some subjects described in detail that made me slightly uncomfortable and would not also recommend for someone under the age of eighteen, as, for example, there is a scene where a guy and his cousin sit in a basement and watch graphic porn together. But the porn is also described in detail on the page, which is a bit much for someone like me who can easily be triggered by this content. Lots of sexual content in this one.
You also really get the sense in this one that portions are autobiographical, especially because So uses his hometown as a setting and several main characters tend to be gay Cambodian men that are young. It adds this special intimacy to the stories, one that is homegrown.
Overall Thoughts
It’s a lovely collection. It truly is. Minus some of the content, I would give it five stars. The writing is pretty electric and controlled, something that takes many writers years to accomplish. I admire So’s writing talent and am sad that the world will never get to see new work from him after the second part of his book deal is published. If you want a solid short story collection or want to read about the lives of Cambodian-Americans, this is the collection for you.
