By now Queer Readers know of the sad story of Anthony Veasna So: how just months before the publication of his first book, Afterparties, he died suddenly of an accidental drug overdose. What’s missing from much of the press coverage is just how great this book is.
Like Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio, the stories in Afterparties are linked by location and culture. Here the location is mostly in and around Stockton, California “…a dusty California free of ambition or beaches”. And the culture is Cambodian–or specifically, what happens to Cambodian culture when it settles into Stockton. Buddhism looms large in this book, as do ghosts–some of them hungry. This is a book about generational post-traumatic stress. Through multiple perspectives and situations, Mr. So illustrates how the brutality of the Khmer Rouge resonates today.
But what makes these stories great is quite simply, compassion. You find yourself rooting for these characters–wondering how their lives will turn out, because Mr. So cares about them. He doesn’t write down to them. He’s one of them.
The first story, “Three Women of Chuck’s Donuts”, should be taught in writing classes for years to come. Mr. So describes a 24-hour Donut Shop which has seen better days. He describes its history and how one Cambodian family came to own it. And then he shows us the family–full of life, well-meaning intentions. And then he drills down further until the fullness of their lives is revealed. In the end, we don’t know how it all will turn out for them, but we’ve learned enough and, perhaps most importantly, we care deeply about them, because Mr. So does.
Whether he is writing of teenagers’ badminton competition, Buddhist monks, the family of a failing auto repair shop, or the afterparty of a wedding, it is this quality of compassion which sets these stories apart. It must be said: all of the stories in this book are excellent. For this Queer Reader the last story is the most fully realized. In “Somaly Serey, Serey Somaly”, a geriatric nurse confronts her own traumatic memories, as she tries to determine whether some of her patient’s delusions are really true.
The publication of Afterparties has been called “bitter sweet,” but reading this book, it occurs to Queer Reader that there is no bitterness in these stories. Only compassion. And brilliance.
Needless to say, QueerReader strongly recommends this beautiful and important book.
Anthony Veasna So’s Afterparties is published by Ecco.
1/1/2022