Phil Wang

This can best be described as a series of essays, using personal experience to discuss the experience of being a mixed race, British/East Asian man in both Malaysia and Britain. Like any essay collection, it has its ups and downs. The author is a stand up comedian and at times I felt that he was trying too hard to be funny in print. Some of the tales would, I fell, be more funny when told than when read. It was patchy with some areas that felt like gross generalisation and others where there show more was a nuanced argument at work. I would never have picked this up if it had not been the Shelterbox book club pick. It was worth reading (I nearly skipped it, but I needed a P for alphakit), as it made me think about some of my ideas on some of the topics raised, but I imagine that this probably appeals to a relatively limited audience. show less