Anthony Veasna So (1992–2020)

I was worried this would be filled with junk salvaged from Veasna So's desktop after his sudden death, but it turns out this writer is as good as I thought he was after reading Afterparties. A substantial percentage of this is pieces of what I assume would have been a novel or a series of linked short stories, and these fragments are nearly all very very good. I wanted to know so much more about the central characters, Darren, Vince and Molly, their families. I wanted more info on the specifics of their (maybe) inheritance from their cool aunt whom they loved, but also saw as nothing more than the money she would leave them and thus free them up from the need to actually work for their living rather just live in their self-indulgent bubbles.

There are a number of essays included here that were previously published (mostly in n+1) that are interesting though many are the work of someone who has not grown out of the belief that intellect and discernment are the most important, perhaps the only important, qualities. These essays remind one of how young Veasna So was, barely out of college, just a couple years older than my son who, like this author. is amazing but very much a work in progress. The review of Crazy Rich Asians, or the criticism of the "smart" reality television movement (think Queer Eye, Love on the Spectrum, etc.) or the observations on how one should read are pretentious and impatient, but in each of them there is some incredibly smart reflection and also in each of them there is some next level writing. I have little doubt that Veasna So would have continued to evolve and get better. His is a loss to literature as well as to those who loved him.

One high point for me: When I read Afterparties I kept thinking how similar the habits, behaviors and humor of the older Cambodians who had survived the genocide were to the Jews I knew who survived the pogroms and the holocaust. I mentioned that in my review I think. So I was gratified when Veasna So mentions in an essay here that Americans conflate all Asians, but that Cambodians are nothing like the Chinese, rather they are like Jews. It was great to feel like I really understood this author's intentions and messaging and it helped me see better the connection between me and other 1st and 2nd gen people who are the children and grandchildren of refugees.… (more)