By Aaradhana Natarajan To read Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese is to be thrust back into the tail end of the 20th century. Published in 2006, Yang’s graphic memoir takes the struggle to fit in and find acceptance as a “perpetual foreigner” comes to vivid, dynamically illustrated life using visual language of 20th century sitcoms and cartoons/comics. Yang never shies away from the fact that prejudice is learned, and self-consciousness is taught. We are party to his characters’ emotional journeys – one of whom, the eponymous ABC Jin Wang, stands in as an avatar for the author’s own… Read More
Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American
By Aaradhana Natarajan Published just as the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were first lifted, Laura Gao’s Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American is a warm, humorous, heartfelt record of her experiences as both a hyphenated American torn between identities and a queer immigrant whose birthplace went from being a relative unknown to synonymous with a global pandemic almost overnight. The graphic novel is full of seamless humor that darts and weaves between more serious topics like a particularly skilled basketball point guard. But there are also heavy moments, where airport waiting lounges, outdoor social gatherings, and high… Read More
Family Style – Memories of an American from Vietnam
awaiting review