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Yellowface by R.F. Kuang is, in her own words, “a horror story about loneliness in a fiercely competitive industry.” It follows the story of June Hayward, a white author, who is #frenemies with an Asian-American author Athena Liu. Kuang, in her first literary fiction novel, introduces both characters and the story takes off when Athena Liu chokes to death in June’s presence. Immediately after, June finds Athena’s unpublished manuscript and steals it, only to later publish it as her own. The rest of the book navigates the journey of June’s climb to stardom and her manipulation of the readers, and critics of her claim to fame, getting manipulated in the process.

The book has been described as a satirical account of the workings of the publishing industry. What I found most riveting was the characters’ audacity and their shamelessness. As I went through the events that transpired, I found my jaw drop and sometimes had to stop short while my mind went “Is she for real?”! While June blatantly does what she has to, so that her lie is established as the truth, Kuang brings to the fore, many of the other ills in the competitive publishing industry that make you wonder who is to blame for whatever transpires in the story. What I found most refreshing, was the characterization of Athena Liu. Even though you want to dislike June for what she does and sympathize with Athena, Kuang makes sure that you also keep in mind that there is no black and white, and that Athena had her own demons that made her do things that would not be considered ethical by any standard.

In a podcast with Mia Messer, @kuangrf also discusses the very relevant subject of cultural appropriation that she has tackled in this book. Kuang mentions how “staying in your own lane... being authentic...more often than not gets twisted around and used to marginalize writers or to pigeon hole marginalized writers more than it does to open up opportunities for them”. She discusses this at length in many ways in the book, and talks about the pressures marginalized writers face from publishers. #PouredOver

The podcast can be found on YouTube ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df6bOjbBmZY )

Cont. in the comments

14/07/2023

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang is, in her own words, “a horror story about loneliness in a fiercely competitive industry.” It follows the story of June Hayward, a white author, who is #frenemies with an Asian-American author Athena Liu. Kuang, in her first literary fiction novel, introduces both characters and the story takes off when Athena Liu chokes to death in June’s presence. Immediately after, June finds Athena’s unpublished manuscript and steals it, only to later publish it as her own. The rest of the book navigates the journey of June’s climb to stardom and her manipulation of the readers, and critics of her claim to fame, getting manipulated in the process. The book has been described as a satirical account of the workings of the publishing industry. What I found most riveting was the characters’ audacity and their shamelessness. As I went through the events that transpired, I found my jaw drop and sometimes had to stop short while my mind went “Is she for real?”! While June blatantly does what she has to, so that her lie is established as the truth, Kuang brings to the fore, many of the other ills in the competitive publishing industry that make you wonder who is to blame for whatever transpires in the story. What I found most refreshing, was the characterization of Athena Liu. Even though you want to dislike June for what she does and sympathize with Athena, Kuang makes sure that you also keep in mind that there is no black and white, and that Athena had her own demons that made her do things that would not be considered ethical by any standard. In a podcast with Mia Messer, @kuangrf also discusses the very relevant subject of cultural appropriation that she has tackled in this book. Kuang mentions how “staying in your own lane... being authentic...more often than not gets twisted around and used to marginalize writers or to pigeon hole marginalized writers more than it does to open up opportunities for them”. She discusses this at length in many ways in the book, and talks about the pressures marginalized writers face from publishers. #PouredOver The podcast can be found on YouTube ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df6bOjbBmZY ) Cont. in the comments

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