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Which Side Are You On
How can we live with integrity and pleasure in this world of police brutality and racism? An Asian American activist is challenged by his mother to face this question in this powerful—and funny—debut novel of generational change, a mother’s secret, and an activist’s coming-of-age
Twenty-one-year-old Reed is fed up. Angry about the killing of a Black man by an Asian American NYPD officer, he wants to drop out of college and devote himself to the Black Lives Matter movement. But would that truly bring him closer to the moral life he seeks?
In a series of intimate, charged conversations, his mother—once the leader of a Korean-Black coalition—demands that he rethink his outrage, and along with it, what it means to be an organizer, a student, an ally, an American, and a son. As Reed zips around his hometown of Los Angeles with his mother, searching and questioning, he faces a revelation that will change everything.
Inspired by his family’s roots in activism, Ryan Lee Wong offers an extraordinary debut novel for readers of Anthony Veasna So, Rachel Kushner, and Michelle Zauner: a book that is as humorous as it is profound, a celebration of seeking a life that is both virtuous and fun, an ode to mothering and being mothered.
Twenty-one-year-old Reed is fed up. Angry about the killing of a Black man by an Asian American NYPD officer, he wants to drop out of college and devote himself to the Black Lives Matter movement. But would that truly bring him closer to the moral life he seeks?
In a series of intimate, charged conversations, his mother—once the leader of a Korean-Black coalition—demands that he rethink his outrage, and along with it, what it means to be an organizer, a student, an ally, an American, and a son. As Reed zips around his hometown of Los Angeles with his mother, searching and questioning, he faces a revelation that will change everything.
Inspired by his family’s roots in activism, Ryan Lee Wong offers an extraordinary debut novel for readers of Anthony Veasna So, Rachel Kushner, and Michelle Zauner: a book that is as humorous as it is profound, a celebration of seeking a life that is both virtuous and fun, an ode to mothering and being mothered.
175 pages, Hardcover
First published October 4, 2022
49 people are currently reading
7949 people want to read
About the author
Ryan Lee Wong
2 books28 followersRyan Lee Wong is author of the novel Which Side Are You On.
He was born and raised in Los Angeles, the son of a fifth-generation Chinese American father and a Korean immigrant mother. Ryan organized the exhibitions Serve the People at Interference Archive and Roots at Chinese American Museum, both focused on the Asian American movements of the 1970s. He has written on the intersections of arts, race, and social movements.
He holds an MFA in Fiction from Rutgers-Newark and served on the Board of the Jerome Foundation. He lived for two years at Ancestral Heart Zen Temple and is based in Brooklyn, where he’s the Administrative Director of Brooklyn Zen Center.
He was born and raised in Los Angeles, the son of a fifth-generation Chinese American father and a Korean immigrant mother. Ryan organized the exhibitions Serve the People at Interference Archive and Roots at Chinese American Museum, both focused on the Asian American movements of the 1970s. He has written on the intersections of arts, race, and social movements.
He holds an MFA in Fiction from Rutgers-Newark and served on the Board of the Jerome Foundation. He lived for two years at Ancestral Heart Zen Temple and is based in Brooklyn, where he’s the Administrative Director of Brooklyn Zen Center.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 252 reviews
October 26, 2022
3.5⭐
This novel is set against the backdrop of the case of the fatal shooting of Akai Gurley by Asian American cop Peter Liang, which sparked protests in 2015-16 –with Asian American groups protesting on behalf of Liang stating that that the shooting was unintentional (the bullet ricocheted off a wall to fatally injure Gurley) and that Liang was being made a “scapegoat” for several white police officers guilty of violence against Black men. Many Asian Americans however joined BLM counter-protests supporting action against police brutality against Black people. Our protagonist, twenty–one–year–old Reed, a student at Columbia University and the child of a Korean American mother and Chinese American father returns home to Los Angeles to visit his ailing grandmother. Reed is currently actively engaged in the BLM movement protesting the shooting of Akai Gurley. He is fired up, motivated and seriously considering dropping out of college to take on a full- time role with the movement against social injustice.
While on a mission to gather stories of Black-Asian solidarity from his parent’s experiences as activists who were a part of the Black-Korean Coalition initiative in 1980s Los Angeles, which he is eager to share with his activist community, Reed is made to confront his own beliefs, the strength of his convictions and his interpretation of activism as opposed to that of his parent's generation.
“ ‘You’re smart enough to know the difference between performing politics and living them.”
“That’s not how it is anymore,” I said. “How you show up in the world is also how you change it. How you talk about the movement is the movement.’ ”
As the narrative progresses, Reed learns more about his parents’ life and times, the events that shaped their convictions, and the impact their activism had on the family. The author references several true events from that period, combining fact and fiction to weave a compelling narrative. Much of the narrative is shared through conversations between Reed and his parents (mostly his mother). In Reed, the author depicts a young idealist who though well-intentioned is immature and influenced by his peers and seems to be enthralled with the idea of activism to the extent that he considers it his calling and is in the process of sacrificing his academics. His understanding of his parents’ motivations, conviction and dedication to their cause is superficial at best. But as the narrative progresses he begins to see his parents in a different light and grasp what it means to be dedicated to a cause and what that means for him going forward. I found Reed’s mother to be a very interesting character and while Reed does come across as annoying with his preachy “wokeness” at times, I did like his willingness to look inwards, listen to what was being said, and learn from his experiences.
Which Side Are You On by Ryan Lee Wong is a well-written debut that tackles sensitive and important issues with compassion, wisdom and humor. This is not a lengthy read which makes it easy to get through, given the subject matter and the author keeps the narrative moving at a consistent pace. Overall, I found this to be a thought-provoking read that is timely and relevant.
This novel is set against the backdrop of the case of the fatal shooting of Akai Gurley by Asian American cop Peter Liang, which sparked protests in 2015-16 –with Asian American groups protesting on behalf of Liang stating that that the shooting was unintentional (the bullet ricocheted off a wall to fatally injure Gurley) and that Liang was being made a “scapegoat” for several white police officers guilty of violence against Black men. Many Asian Americans however joined BLM counter-protests supporting action against police brutality against Black people. Our protagonist, twenty–one–year–old Reed, a student at Columbia University and the child of a Korean American mother and Chinese American father returns home to Los Angeles to visit his ailing grandmother. Reed is currently actively engaged in the BLM movement protesting the shooting of Akai Gurley. He is fired up, motivated and seriously considering dropping out of college to take on a full- time role with the movement against social injustice.
While on a mission to gather stories of Black-Asian solidarity from his parent’s experiences as activists who were a part of the Black-Korean Coalition initiative in 1980s Los Angeles, which he is eager to share with his activist community, Reed is made to confront his own beliefs, the strength of his convictions and his interpretation of activism as opposed to that of his parent's generation.
“ ‘You’re smart enough to know the difference between performing politics and living them.”
“That’s not how it is anymore,” I said. “How you show up in the world is also how you change it. How you talk about the movement is the movement.’ ”
As the narrative progresses, Reed learns more about his parents’ life and times, the events that shaped their convictions, and the impact their activism had on the family. The author references several true events from that period, combining fact and fiction to weave a compelling narrative. Much of the narrative is shared through conversations between Reed and his parents (mostly his mother). In Reed, the author depicts a young idealist who though well-intentioned is immature and influenced by his peers and seems to be enthralled with the idea of activism to the extent that he considers it his calling and is in the process of sacrificing his academics. His understanding of his parents’ motivations, conviction and dedication to their cause is superficial at best. But as the narrative progresses he begins to see his parents in a different light and grasp what it means to be dedicated to a cause and what that means for him going forward. I found Reed’s mother to be a very interesting character and while Reed does come across as annoying with his preachy “wokeness” at times, I did like his willingness to look inwards, listen to what was being said, and learn from his experiences.
Which Side Are You On by Ryan Lee Wong is a well-written debut that tackles sensitive and important issues with compassion, wisdom and humor. This is not a lengthy read which makes it easy to get through, given the subject matter and the author keeps the narrative moving at a consistent pace. Overall, I found this to be a thought-provoking read that is timely and relevant.
December 15, 2022
I liked that this book featured a young Asian American man, Reed, engaging in activism for racial justice and trying to figure out the best ways he can advocate for change. I found the intergenerational aspect of how Reed communicates with his activist Asian American parents and learns their history interesting and unique. This book helps dismantle the stereotype of Asian Americans as apolitical, submissive model minorities within the United States.
At the same time, I found the characters a bit one-dimensional. Though politically engaged and cool in that way, the characters seemed to me like conduits for Ryan Lee Wong to convey his messages about activism and social justice, while I wanted more depth of feeling and introspection. For example, with Reed, I wanted to understand more of what drove his desire for activism on an internal level, as opposed to only reading about his external focus on changing the world and his twitter speak dialogue.
Still, appreciate the rise in Asian American authors and books! Some other books I’ve enjoyed more on a five or four-star level include the novel Tell Me How to Be by Neel Patel, the short story collection The Partition by Don Lee, and the memoir Stay True by Hua Hsu.
At the same time, I found the characters a bit one-dimensional. Though politically engaged and cool in that way, the characters seemed to me like conduits for Ryan Lee Wong to convey his messages about activism and social justice, while I wanted more depth of feeling and introspection. For example, with Reed, I wanted to understand more of what drove his desire for activism on an internal level, as opposed to only reading about his external focus on changing the world and his twitter speak dialogue.
Still, appreciate the rise in Asian American authors and books! Some other books I’ve enjoyed more on a five or four-star level include the novel Tell Me How to Be by Neel Patel, the short story collection The Partition by Don Lee, and the memoir Stay True by Hua Hsu.
January 24, 2023
:'-( cathy park hong... you led me so astray
the ideas at the heart of this novel are fantastic, but you can't string together twitter threads, put them inside dialogue quotations, and call it a successful novel. characters should have more to them than being a vessel for distilled ideological or generational stances. i understand that the entire point is to inflate the main character with pedantic, self-aggrandizing ideas of activism in order for him to later have a bildungsroman-esque understanding of all the ways he's been going about things incorrectly, but there's also a skill in making the insufferable parts of a character still sound realistic and nuanced.
"I mean, as a middle-class East Asian kid, I feel like [dropping out of college is] really the only option; otherwise, the degree is just another resource I'm hoarding propelling myself up the ladder toward whiteness."
"Anyway, 'self-care' has been so co-opted that instead of a radical assertion of personhood under racist capitalism, it's come to mean the opposite: sipping matcha lattes and paying twenty-two dollars for yoga classes to perpetuate companies branding that lifestyle."
"It's a pattern of non-Black people saying turn up and yaaas and terms that, thanks to Twitter, are appropriated almost as soon as they originate. Or, even worse, white people yelling I can't breathe and Whose streets? Our streets! at protests, as if them false identifying with Black suffering and claiming ownership of public space weren't exactly the problem."
these are things you can tweet, or write in your journal or for an online think-piece, but to say it out loud to your immigrant korean mother? in my opinion, this is lazy writing--namely by giving your characters clunky, internet speeches over doing the work of actual characterization. but i guess that's the entire point of the story, there's a difference between doing things for show and doing the actual work.
the ideas at the heart of this novel are fantastic, but you can't string together twitter threads, put them inside dialogue quotations, and call it a successful novel. characters should have more to them than being a vessel for distilled ideological or generational stances. i understand that the entire point is to inflate the main character with pedantic, self-aggrandizing ideas of activism in order for him to later have a bildungsroman-esque understanding of all the ways he's been going about things incorrectly, but there's also a skill in making the insufferable parts of a character still sound realistic and nuanced.
"I mean, as a middle-class East Asian kid, I feel like [dropping out of college is] really the only option; otherwise, the degree is just another resource I'm hoarding propelling myself up the ladder toward whiteness."
"Anyway, 'self-care' has been so co-opted that instead of a radical assertion of personhood under racist capitalism, it's come to mean the opposite: sipping matcha lattes and paying twenty-two dollars for yoga classes to perpetuate companies branding that lifestyle."
"It's a pattern of non-Black people saying turn up and yaaas and terms that, thanks to Twitter, are appropriated almost as soon as they originate. Or, even worse, white people yelling I can't breathe and Whose streets? Our streets! at protests, as if them false identifying with Black suffering and claiming ownership of public space weren't exactly the problem."
these are things you can tweet, or write in your journal or for an online think-piece, but to say it out loud to your immigrant korean mother? in my opinion, this is lazy writing--namely by giving your characters clunky, internet speeches over doing the work of actual characterization. but i guess that's the entire point of the story, there's a difference between doing things for show and doing the actual work.
September 3, 2022
[Thank you to Catapult for sending me an early copy of this book! It will be released on October 4, 2022]
From the publisher: How can we live with integrity and pleasure in this world of police brutality and racism? An Asian American activist is challenged by his mother to face this question in this powerful—and funny—debut novel of generational change, a mother’s secret, and an activist’s coming-of-age.
It's refreshing to read a contemporary story dealing with topics that are so pervasive in the United States that feels authentic. Ryan Lee Wong's debut novel is complex; it avoids simplifying this story into black and white narratives that support a specific agenda. It asks more questions than it answers and leaves the reader contemplating their role in political and social conversations and movements.
Wong's protagonist, Reed, starts out with that 'first-semester of college know-it-all' attitude. He's returned to Los Angeles to visit his dying grandmother. While away from his activist community at Columbia in NYC, he has conversations with his mother, who has her own history of activism in the Korean-Black Coalition of Los Angeles. Reed must confront his own preconceptions and face the self he's created against the self that comes from his family history, upbringing, and current cultural climate.
I thought Ryan Lee Wong did such an excellent job writing about generational divides, performative activism, and coming of age in such a realistic way. It's messy and unflattering at times, just like real life. Because the novel is quite short, it doesn't spend too much time on any one conversation, but moves through various interactions that help to begin shaping Reed's awakening. I think if it had lingered too long (like a cyclical Twitter conversation that goes nowhere), it would have been frustrating. Its brevity leaves just enough to ponder without feeling like it comes up short.
I can't wait for more people to read this once its out in October! This is definitely one I'll be recommending to people looking for a thought-provoking, quick read.
From the publisher: How can we live with integrity and pleasure in this world of police brutality and racism? An Asian American activist is challenged by his mother to face this question in this powerful—and funny—debut novel of generational change, a mother’s secret, and an activist’s coming-of-age.
It's refreshing to read a contemporary story dealing with topics that are so pervasive in the United States that feels authentic. Ryan Lee Wong's debut novel is complex; it avoids simplifying this story into black and white narratives that support a specific agenda. It asks more questions than it answers and leaves the reader contemplating their role in political and social conversations and movements.
Wong's protagonist, Reed, starts out with that 'first-semester of college know-it-all' attitude. He's returned to Los Angeles to visit his dying grandmother. While away from his activist community at Columbia in NYC, he has conversations with his mother, who has her own history of activism in the Korean-Black Coalition of Los Angeles. Reed must confront his own preconceptions and face the self he's created against the self that comes from his family history, upbringing, and current cultural climate.
I thought Ryan Lee Wong did such an excellent job writing about generational divides, performative activism, and coming of age in such a realistic way. It's messy and unflattering at times, just like real life. Because the novel is quite short, it doesn't spend too much time on any one conversation, but moves through various interactions that help to begin shaping Reed's awakening. I think if it had lingered too long (like a cyclical Twitter conversation that goes nowhere), it would have been frustrating. Its brevity leaves just enough to ponder without feeling like it comes up short.
I can't wait for more people to read this once its out in October! This is definitely one I'll be recommending to people looking for a thought-provoking, quick read.
October 27, 2022
saw Elaine Chou who wrote my favorite book of the year ‘Disorientation’ rave about it, so I had to add this to my TBR
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I enjoyed this debut by Ryan — it's timely, interesting, and extremely thought-provoking.
‘Which Side Are You On’ is set on the backdrop of the killing of a Black man by an Asian American NYPD officer. Reed, a 21-year-old Asian-American student at Columbia University, is devoted to activism similar to his parents when they were younger. However, his devotion leads him to want to drop out of school to commit to being a full-time activist since he feels this is the only way to create substantial change. But as the story unfolds, we see how Reed is forced to confront his perspective, privilege, the importance of self-care, and the best way to bring change and diminish tension between communities.
“𝗞𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗵𝘄𝗮𝗯𝘆𝘂𝗻𝗴, ‘𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀’. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂”
Reed has good intentions but can be stubborn. I think he represents how a lot of young people feel when they are inspired to be a part of pushing for change but often are fixed and feel angry with the world not acting as how you deem fit. Anger can fuel you, but can cause unnecessary suffering.
This book, just under 200 pages, is a starting point to several greater conversations — generational divides, co-existing with people different from you, and the relationship between the Black and Asian community, specifically in terms of activism and anti-blackness.
"𝗨𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆, 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗲𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁"
Even though this is fiction, the case is a real event and the conversations are based on real feelings. Most of the conversations are had between Reed and his parents, mainly his mother, and I think there is a lot to learn from previous generations — because as things change, things stay the same. And there is a difference between having morals and being condescending and self-righteous.
Overall, a short but impactful exploration of a sensitive subject. The mom was my favorite character as she brought perspective and dry humor. Would recommend it if the subject matter intrigues you. I flew right through it and it gave me a lot to think about.
Thank you @catapult for the advanced copy!
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I enjoyed this debut by Ryan — it's timely, interesting, and extremely thought-provoking.
‘Which Side Are You On’ is set on the backdrop of the killing of a Black man by an Asian American NYPD officer. Reed, a 21-year-old Asian-American student at Columbia University, is devoted to activism similar to his parents when they were younger. However, his devotion leads him to want to drop out of school to commit to being a full-time activist since he feels this is the only way to create substantial change. But as the story unfolds, we see how Reed is forced to confront his perspective, privilege, the importance of self-care, and the best way to bring change and diminish tension between communities.
“𝗞𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗵𝘄𝗮𝗯𝘆𝘂𝗻𝗴, ‘𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀’. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂”
Reed has good intentions but can be stubborn. I think he represents how a lot of young people feel when they are inspired to be a part of pushing for change but often are fixed and feel angry with the world not acting as how you deem fit. Anger can fuel you, but can cause unnecessary suffering.
This book, just under 200 pages, is a starting point to several greater conversations — generational divides, co-existing with people different from you, and the relationship between the Black and Asian community, specifically in terms of activism and anti-blackness.
"𝗨𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆, 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗲𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁"
Even though this is fiction, the case is a real event and the conversations are based on real feelings. Most of the conversations are had between Reed and his parents, mainly his mother, and I think there is a lot to learn from previous generations — because as things change, things stay the same. And there is a difference between having morals and being condescending and self-righteous.
Overall, a short but impactful exploration of a sensitive subject. The mom was my favorite character as she brought perspective and dry humor. Would recommend it if the subject matter intrigues you. I flew right through it and it gave me a lot to think about.
Thank you @catapult for the advanced copy!
February 24, 2023
This funny, moving, all-too-brief bildungsroman compressed into a few days addresses a tome's worth of subjects--racial (in)justice, generational trauma, activism, family dynamics, and the follies of youth--into what would be 120 or so pages/a novella if typeset slightly less generously. I liked it a lot, but a bit more overall, including about some of the characters, would've been nice.
February 28, 2023
Ryan Lee Wong's Which Side Are You On works well as an introduction to some of the ways in which systemic racism is being discussed and responded to today. It's less successful as a novel, but certainly not without its merits.
Which Side Are You On tells the story of Columbia student Reed Lee Wong's visit to his family in Los Angeles. Reed announces to his parents his intention of dropping out of school to put more energy into Black Lives Matter Protests. Not surprisingly they aren't pleased with his choice. What's interesting here is that Reed's parents were both activists in their youth—and his father still works in public policy. Reed knows of this history in a very general way, but has never heard much in the way of specifics. As he presses them for their stories, his wrestling with ethical choices is first confirmed in its dogmatism, then increasingly questioned.
The publicity material describes Which Side Are You On as "a book that is as humorous as it is profound, a celebration of seeking a life that is both virtuous and fun, an ode to mothering and being mothered." True, Which Side Are You On offers a balance of humor and "profundity," but neither is offered in particularly generous amounts. While Wong's characters make the case for an activism that is both virtuous and fun, we're told much more about agonizing over virtue and much less about what "fun" might entail.
The book does succeed as a tale of mothering and being mothered—focused particular on the generational experiences that aren't passed down within a family. There are reasons for silences, but in the long run, many silences are ultimately more destructive than constructive.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via EdelweissPlus; the opinions are my own.
Which Side Are You On tells the story of Columbia student Reed Lee Wong's visit to his family in Los Angeles. Reed announces to his parents his intention of dropping out of school to put more energy into Black Lives Matter Protests. Not surprisingly they aren't pleased with his choice. What's interesting here is that Reed's parents were both activists in their youth—and his father still works in public policy. Reed knows of this history in a very general way, but has never heard much in the way of specifics. As he presses them for their stories, his wrestling with ethical choices is first confirmed in its dogmatism, then increasingly questioned.
The publicity material describes Which Side Are You On as "a book that is as humorous as it is profound, a celebration of seeking a life that is both virtuous and fun, an ode to mothering and being mothered." True, Which Side Are You On offers a balance of humor and "profundity," but neither is offered in particularly generous amounts. While Wong's characters make the case for an activism that is both virtuous and fun, we're told much more about agonizing over virtue and much less about what "fun" might entail.
The book does succeed as a tale of mothering and being mothered—focused particular on the generational experiences that aren't passed down within a family. There are reasons for silences, but in the long run, many silences are ultimately more destructive than constructive.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via EdelweissPlus; the opinions are my own.
October 9, 2022
3.5 rounded up*
Which Side Are You On follows Reed, an Asian American activist who has decided to drop out of college to pursue social justice. The story follows his involvement in the Black Lives Matter Movement after an Asian American policeman kills a Black man; this bolsters his activism and, through conversations with his parents, he learns about himself, themselves, and what to do when the world isn't fair.
I found this book incredibly interesting. My only 'ugh' point would be Reed's insistence on speaking like a Gen Z kid and referring to his own parents as boomers, and some other terminologies regarding Gen Z or socialism that I find do not spark joy. This aside, this truly was a great book and I'm sure it saved me from the reading slump that was slowly but surely begining.
The topic sort of reminded me of Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha as it deals - to an extent - with Black-Asian solidarity. Sure, Cha's book is entirely different, but I'm not American so reading Lee Wong's book helped me learn more about the Korean-Black coalition, the LA riots, and so forth. Bonus points for also adding bits about growing up (Asian) in America and parting ways from what your parents think is the 'American dream' and, also, just getting to know your parents in very new ways was an interesting idea. I personally loved both his mother and father the most, learning about them was fascinating.
I feel this book touched on many relevant topics and while it lingered on social justice, picking sides, and what to do when the world sucks, other themes were still present without removing the emphasis on the main ones. It is very difficult to put a story together that encapsulates so many themes and makes it work. This would be a great read for a book club, I'd say.
That'll be all. I'm looking forward to seeing more books by the author, this was a great debut novel!
Which Side Are You On follows Reed, an Asian American activist who has decided to drop out of college to pursue social justice. The story follows his involvement in the Black Lives Matter Movement after an Asian American policeman kills a Black man; this bolsters his activism and, through conversations with his parents, he learns about himself, themselves, and what to do when the world isn't fair.
I found this book incredibly interesting. My only 'ugh' point would be Reed's insistence on speaking like a Gen Z kid and referring to his own parents as boomers, and some other terminologies regarding Gen Z or socialism that I find do not spark joy. This aside, this truly was a great book and I'm sure it saved me from the reading slump that was slowly but surely begining.
The topic sort of reminded me of Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha as it deals - to an extent - with Black-Asian solidarity. Sure, Cha's book is entirely different, but I'm not American so reading Lee Wong's book helped me learn more about the Korean-Black coalition, the LA riots, and so forth. Bonus points for also adding bits about growing up (Asian) in America and parting ways from what your parents think is the 'American dream' and, also, just getting to know your parents in very new ways was an interesting idea. I personally loved both his mother and father the most, learning about them was fascinating.
I feel this book touched on many relevant topics and while it lingered on social justice, picking sides, and what to do when the world sucks, other themes were still present without removing the emphasis on the main ones. It is very difficult to put a story together that encapsulates so many themes and makes it work. This would be a great read for a book club, I'd say.
That'll be all. I'm looking forward to seeing more books by the author, this was a great debut novel!
October 6, 2022
Yeesh. The main character is insufferable, the dialog runs in circles, and it’s just…not finished. There is not a sensible conclusion. There is something here, for sure, but it needed a lot more work and character development.
December 1, 2022
READING VLOG
Major thanks to Catapult Press, Softskull Press, and Counterpoint Press along with NetGalley for offering me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
To pick a side, to bend the world binary, to make choices black or white, yes or no, a step back a step forth. In a tight-knit book, Wong flings Reed into the reckoning of the killing of a black man by an Asian American police officer and his parents' past.
When reading this, I couldn't help but think of this year's earlier Disorientation by Elaine Hsieuh Chou. Not because of their talk at Literati Bookstore, but because they both tackle issues with a relentlessness that begs to be seen and heard. To see something, then say something, and actually do something about it. By creating narratives that revolve around what activisim means. In how much we are performative about activism, be it blindly reposting posts to our Instagram stories or parroting headlines without reading articles, we need to remember that direct action is required.
Wong wastes no time with tropes of Asian American literature, but presents the issues at hand through twitter-talk exposition flooded in dialogue. We cover the LA riots, noting upon 사 이 구, and seeing how his parents as activists repelled against injustices, then to how Reed rejects them now. Two different activisms, sharing similar ideals, yet different solutions, or acts towards solutions. It's not perfect. It's not simple. And we even question if it's worth it at all.
I wouldn't call this a novel as Reed isn't entirely fleshed out as a character, but more of a Ted Talk via story. It's not a bad thing. It's just different. Moreso, it's an interesting look at how social issues can be dealt with through fiction that I think is necessary for any part a young person's formative learning. Because though there is much naivety in the soul of a beginner, there's much heart.
Major thanks to Catapult Press, Softskull Press, and Counterpoint Press along with NetGalley for offering me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
To pick a side, to bend the world binary, to make choices black or white, yes or no, a step back a step forth. In a tight-knit book, Wong flings Reed into the reckoning of the killing of a black man by an Asian American police officer and his parents' past.
When reading this, I couldn't help but think of this year's earlier Disorientation by Elaine Hsieuh Chou. Not because of their talk at Literati Bookstore, but because they both tackle issues with a relentlessness that begs to be seen and heard. To see something, then say something, and actually do something about it. By creating narratives that revolve around what activisim means. In how much we are performative about activism, be it blindly reposting posts to our Instagram stories or parroting headlines without reading articles, we need to remember that direct action is required.
Wong wastes no time with tropes of Asian American literature, but presents the issues at hand through twitter-talk exposition flooded in dialogue. We cover the LA riots, noting upon 사 이 구, and seeing how his parents as activists repelled against injustices, then to how Reed rejects them now. Two different activisms, sharing similar ideals, yet different solutions, or acts towards solutions. It's not perfect. It's not simple. And we even question if it's worth it at all.
I wouldn't call this a novel as Reed isn't entirely fleshed out as a character, but more of a Ted Talk via story. It's not a bad thing. It's just different. Moreso, it's an interesting look at how social issues can be dealt with through fiction that I think is necessary for any part a young person's formative learning. Because though there is much naivety in the soul of a beginner, there's much heart.
November 9, 2022
I love Reed’s mom.
November 13, 2022
It didn't take long for me to play six-degrees of separation with the author. It's 2 degrees.
Anyway, this short book has a mild, subdued tone. The climax was also subdued and reminded me of a quality Matthew Salesses speaks of in Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping
I was especially tickled that Yuri Kochiyama and Grace Lee Boggs are mentioned in this book. Oh and CAAAV is included too! And when there are so many factual elements in general and so many specific similarities between Reed and Ryan, I begin to wonder why, especially when the author must assert that this is a novel.
While reading this book, I thought about George Floyd and about how Asian Americans are being used as a wedge during the latest Supreme Court ruling about affirmative action at Harvard and UNC. (By the way, the majority of Asian Americans, 69%, support affirmative action. And many of us, including me, benefitted from it; and we are aware of that and grateful for it.)
The book centers around an Asian American college student who becomes involved in protests related to Akai Gurley's murder by police and specifically against the Asian American police officer who killed Akai. With this, we get drawn into his reckoning with his parents, OG activists, and with his current crossroads. And I feel then that I'm having another "Killing Me Softly" experience.
With more books representing the Asian American experience, I have read six this year that feature Asian American history and Asian American community elements. It's awesome to finally have such abundance. I am glad to have Disorientation, We Two Alone: Stories, Nuclear Family, The Partition, and Four Treasures of the Sky are the other titles that led me to reflect about all the affirming Asian American content.
Quotes:
"....It didn't make the family white-people rich, but it made them Chinatown rich, which meant the first thing they did was move out of Chinatown...."
"How you show up in the world is also how you change it. How you talk about the movement is the movement."
"...What else was the revolution but to go backward and forward at once, to build a future so different that it undid the past. And if we didn't have that, then all we had was the present--this family and country, this life, exactly as they were."
Anyway, this short book has a mild, subdued tone. The climax was also subdued and reminded me of a quality Matthew Salesses speaks of in Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping
I was especially tickled that Yuri Kochiyama and Grace Lee Boggs are mentioned in this book. Oh and CAAAV is included too! And when there are so many factual elements in general and so many specific similarities between Reed and Ryan, I begin to wonder why, especially when the author must assert that this is a novel.
While reading this book, I thought about George Floyd and about how Asian Americans are being used as a wedge during the latest Supreme Court ruling about affirmative action at Harvard and UNC. (By the way, the majority of Asian Americans, 69%, support affirmative action. And many of us, including me, benefitted from it; and we are aware of that and grateful for it.)
The book centers around an Asian American college student who becomes involved in protests related to Akai Gurley's murder by police and specifically against the Asian American police officer who killed Akai. With this, we get drawn into his reckoning with his parents, OG activists, and with his current crossroads. And I feel then that I'm having another "Killing Me Softly" experience.
With more books representing the Asian American experience, I have read six this year that feature Asian American history and Asian American community elements. It's awesome to finally have such abundance. I am glad to have Disorientation, We Two Alone: Stories, Nuclear Family, The Partition, and Four Treasures of the Sky are the other titles that led me to reflect about all the affirming Asian American content.
Quotes:
"....It didn't make the family white-people rich, but it made them Chinatown rich, which meant the first thing they did was move out of Chinatown...."
"How you show up in the world is also how you change it. How you talk about the movement is the movement."
"...What else was the revolution but to go backward and forward at once, to build a future so different that it undid the past. And if we didn't have that, then all we had was the present--this family and country, this life, exactly as they were."
August 21, 2022
Thank you catapult for the gifted copy!💛
We follow Reed, who's a Korean Chinese American, about to drop out of Columbia to devote his time to grassroot organizing and activism.
This book does a lot of things pretty deftly and compells some useful discussions that I'm sure have been up for debate and will continue to be for quite some time.
Reed is someone who has read and theorized about abolition, but has no hands on knowledge. When asked by his mom, both of his parents were indeed activists having started a Korean-Black coalition in the 90s in LA, Reed doesn't know where to start (healthcare for all, end the carceral system, LGBTQ rights)...he thinks to himself that he's missing something and freezes, unable to reply.
Reed is idealistically young, thinking that his time is better served in the moment for a particularly hot case (a Black man has been killed by an Asian American cop). But indeed this work has been ongoing for many many many generations and will not be solved by him and his time alone. He is really confronted with questions from his parents who have been where he is now, impassioned by idealism and radicalism, who are asking him to also plan ahead and be pragmatic and sometimes self-serving to preserve oneself for the long run.
But is there a middle ground? Does it need to be clear cut sides? How does that work if you are an abolitionist but also looking for jail time for a cop who committed murder?
In trying to excavate useful knowledge from his parents' past, he ends up excavating a lot more as well into the past of his own Koreanness as well.
I found this to be a very impactful book that encapsulates a lot of thoughtful questions in a propulsive way.
We follow Reed, who's a Korean Chinese American, about to drop out of Columbia to devote his time to grassroot organizing and activism.
This book does a lot of things pretty deftly and compells some useful discussions that I'm sure have been up for debate and will continue to be for quite some time.
Reed is someone who has read and theorized about abolition, but has no hands on knowledge. When asked by his mom, both of his parents were indeed activists having started a Korean-Black coalition in the 90s in LA, Reed doesn't know where to start (healthcare for all, end the carceral system, LGBTQ rights)...he thinks to himself that he's missing something and freezes, unable to reply.
Reed is idealistically young, thinking that his time is better served in the moment for a particularly hot case (a Black man has been killed by an Asian American cop). But indeed this work has been ongoing for many many many generations and will not be solved by him and his time alone. He is really confronted with questions from his parents who have been where he is now, impassioned by idealism and radicalism, who are asking him to also plan ahead and be pragmatic and sometimes self-serving to preserve oneself for the long run.
But is there a middle ground? Does it need to be clear cut sides? How does that work if you are an abolitionist but also looking for jail time for a cop who committed murder?
In trying to excavate useful knowledge from his parents' past, he ends up excavating a lot more as well into the past of his own Koreanness as well.
I found this to be a very impactful book that encapsulates a lot of thoughtful questions in a propulsive way.
May 5, 2022
This book is so incredibly awesome. So moving, and funny, and wise.
February 4, 2023
For something like three decades I taught a course on "Multicultural American Fiction" at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The course evolved immensely over that time and one of the challenges was adjusting the reading list to reflect the changing concerns surrounding the constellations of African American, Latinx and Chicanx, (East and South) Asian American, and Navit American literatures. I'm retired, but if I were still teaching the class, Which Side Are You On would be on the list. Narrated by a young Korean/Chinese American activist involved in organizing for a case involving the killing of a young Black man by an Asian American policeman, the novel raises absolutely crucial questions for our political moment. At the start, the narrator's deeply enmeshed in the theoretical vocabularies of the 2020--Twitter, the languages of privilege, heteronormativity, etc.. Over the course of 175 very well-written pages, he discovers family stories that take him back to the 1970s and then to the deeper history of Korean history. I won't elaborate a lot, other than to say his conversations with his Korean mother--a truly memorable character--and Chinese union organizer father work through issues in a way that avoids simplifications. An excellent first novel.
September 10, 2022
[Copy provided by publisher]
READ IF YOU LIKE...
• Activism
• Learning more about Black-Asian racial tensions
• The power of history
I THOUGHT IT WAS...
A heartfelt examination of what it means to take action the right way. It's a complicated topic, even when the right and wrong of a situation seems straightforward.
Columbia student Reed returns home to LA when his grandmother's condition takes a turn for the worse. But he's fired up, a vocal member of a group that is pushing for conviction of an Asian American cop who killed a Black man. He tells his parents that he's dropping out, that there are things more important in this world than a privileged education. That's when his parents tell him about their own activism in their youth, when they worked to ease Korean-Black racial tensions in LA.
For such a short book, Wong does an incredible job examining the layers involved in a situation like this. Not only are their deep misunderstandings and entrenched systemic rifts between Blacks and Asians, but there are misunderstandings around what activism should be. Is true activism showing up, screaming the loudest, and giving your entire life to the cause? Or is it one-on-one conversations in a community, careful examination of both sides' concerns, and making moves when it's smartest?
Through Reed, we learn it can be both, which is what makes it so complicated. I highly encourage you to read this in order to truly appreciate the genius of this novel.
READ IF YOU LIKE...
• Activism
• Learning more about Black-Asian racial tensions
• The power of history
I THOUGHT IT WAS...
A heartfelt examination of what it means to take action the right way. It's a complicated topic, even when the right and wrong of a situation seems straightforward.
Columbia student Reed returns home to LA when his grandmother's condition takes a turn for the worse. But he's fired up, a vocal member of a group that is pushing for conviction of an Asian American cop who killed a Black man. He tells his parents that he's dropping out, that there are things more important in this world than a privileged education. That's when his parents tell him about their own activism in their youth, when they worked to ease Korean-Black racial tensions in LA.
For such a short book, Wong does an incredible job examining the layers involved in a situation like this. Not only are their deep misunderstandings and entrenched systemic rifts between Blacks and Asians, but there are misunderstandings around what activism should be. Is true activism showing up, screaming the loudest, and giving your entire life to the cause? Or is it one-on-one conversations in a community, careful examination of both sides' concerns, and making moves when it's smartest?
Through Reed, we learn it can be both, which is what makes it so complicated. I highly encourage you to read this in order to truly appreciate the genius of this novel.
July 24, 2022
A son returns home to LA for his grandmother's last few days, and opens up to learn of his parents' history as activists. He compares his own experiences with theirs as he struggles to figure out his future as a college student and self-proclaimed radical. Perfect for this moment, when so many of us are studying history to blaze new trails forward. I found this book very thought-provoking, and the family's story refreshing.
January 1, 2023
The protagonist in this book is insufferable
April 22, 2023
Reed is a young Asian-American man who wants to drop out of college to commit himself to activism full-time, disillusioned by the support of the Asian-American community for Asian-American Peter Liang, a NYPD officer who shot unarmed black man Akai Gurley. (This novel is set in 2016, which I didn't clock at first, and was confused when Reed kept calling himself a millennial - though he is still almost young enough to be Gen Z). However, his mother, once the leader of a Korean-Black coalition during the 1992 LA uprising, has some lessons to teach him. There's a slightly satirical edge to Ryan Lee Wong's Which Side Are You On, with Reed often tangling himself up in jargon in a way that is unintentionally (on his part, but not on the author's) funny. Going to a K-Town club, for example, he witnesses two separate queues: 'one with a long line of the subaltern clubbers, the other for the normatively beautiful and very rich... I tripped on a broken sidewalk... muttered a little curse at the neglected pavement and this pedestrian-hostile city'. 'You sound like Adorno if he, like, worked out his ideas on Twitter', his friend CJ tells him.
Which Side Are You On is also cleverly written as a stream of continuous action, as Reed tries to find out about his parents' history of organising while all his mother wants to do is take him to a Korean spa and make him get a professional haircut. What his parents want him to understand, it turns out, is that building messy, difficult relationships with real people is where activism actually takes place, rather than holding everyone, including yourself, up to impossible standards. Which Side Are You On was a little too neat for me to truly love it; some of the secondary cast are reduced to stereotypes, and I wanted to feel Reed's relationship with his mother more rather than be told about it (it reminded me a little of Michelle Zauner's depiction of her mother in Crying In H Mart, which was much more emotionally raw). Still, it's SO refreshing to read a book like this about inter-generational activism rather than the usual conservative parents/woke child story, Wong has loads to teach us, and I can't wait to see what he does next.
Which Side Are You On is also cleverly written as a stream of continuous action, as Reed tries to find out about his parents' history of organising while all his mother wants to do is take him to a Korean spa and make him get a professional haircut. What his parents want him to understand, it turns out, is that building messy, difficult relationships with real people is where activism actually takes place, rather than holding everyone, including yourself, up to impossible standards. Which Side Are You On was a little too neat for me to truly love it; some of the secondary cast are reduced to stereotypes, and I wanted to feel Reed's relationship with his mother more rather than be told about it (it reminded me a little of Michelle Zauner's depiction of her mother in Crying In H Mart, which was much more emotionally raw). Still, it's SO refreshing to read a book like this about inter-generational activism rather than the usual conservative parents/woke child story, Wong has loads to teach us, and I can't wait to see what he does next.
October 22, 2022
"I had no idea how to close the distance between myself and the people I supposedly stood for."
Quoting the MC on exactly how I felt about this book and myself.
And its entirely my fault because I do not have any exposure to the situations or environment mentioned in this book and I am uninterested in politics be it current affairs or history.
Quoting the MC on exactly how I felt about this book and myself.
And its entirely my fault because I do not have any exposure to the situations or environment mentioned in this book and I am uninterested in politics be it current affairs or history.
October 10, 2022
I almost cried towards the end with the scene centered around his grandmother Halmoni, the abbess, Reed, and his mom. It really moved me.
July 31, 2022
Full transparency, I finished Which Side Are You On this morning so I might come back and update this review once I've fully processed it. The events in Which Side Are You On take places in a matter of days while Reed is visiting his hometown LA from New York, where he's a student at Columbia. As part of the community organizing group at Columbia and being half-chinese and half-Korean, Reed feels conflicted with his desire to be a good activist and seeing some actions within the Asian community upholding or perpetuating "the white supremacist heteropatriarchy." He expresses his frustration by having arguments with his parents, who were activists in their youth, and high school friend CJ.
To me, Which Side Are You On reminded me of Cathy Park Hong's Minor Feelings in the sense that it articulated what many of us think about but don't often hear talked about. Reading this felt like getting my back scratched! Lee Wong's writing is beautiful and captivating. His depiction of Korean BBQ and bathhouses/sauna made me feel like I was right there with Reed! This is coming out in October of this year (I received a free advanced reader copy on NetGalley), and I'm so excited for people tor read this.
To me, Which Side Are You On reminded me of Cathy Park Hong's Minor Feelings in the sense that it articulated what many of us think about but don't often hear talked about. Reading this felt like getting my back scratched! Lee Wong's writing is beautiful and captivating. His depiction of Korean BBQ and bathhouses/sauna made me feel like I was right there with Reed! This is coming out in October of this year (I received a free advanced reader copy on NetGalley), and I'm so excited for people tor read this.
July 7, 2022
A young idealist activist seeks guidance from his activists parents and learns that their truths don't match his ideals. Moreover, intergenerational interracial trauma also conflict with his well intentioned belief system. What happens when truth hits reality? But most of all, this shows how each generation has to learn through their own mistakes before realizing that sometimes, pragmatism may be the best course. Sharp, insightful and witty, this debut author is one to watch.
For readers of Steph Cha, Nina Revoyr and Joanna Ho.
I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.
For readers of Steph Cha, Nina Revoyr and Joanna Ho.
I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.
May 10, 2024
I’ve been in such a reading slump and it’s partly because of this book (how did it take me 2.5 weeks to read 170 pages?!).
So bad and painful to read, so bad that I won’t even waste my time leaving a bad review.
:(
So bad and painful to read, so bad that I won’t even waste my time leaving a bad review.
:(
Want to read
January 26, 2022I will buy this book for the cover alone.
December 12, 2023
2.5, this main character is what activist twamps must sound like to normal people (too high on theory and bad for the movement)
cool k town representation tho
cool k town representation tho
July 10, 2023
warning, very rambly review/collection of thoughts
narrated by a 21 year old korean and chinese student at columbia, WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON follows reed's first trip back home to LA since becoming an activist in new york. he debuts a new self to his family and friends, one who is fluent in political theory and has seemingly perfect, pristine politics. he is eager to learn about his parent's past involvement in communism and black-korean community building, but is consistently frustrated with what they tell him and what he perceives as the hypocrisy and contradictory lifestyles of everyone around him.
this was a book i was so excited for, but when it first came out, i read multiple critical reviews. most of these reviews came from black readers who wrote about their discontent with the way the novel uses the murder of akai gurley as a backdrop for the novel, and the absence of black characters in a novel to which afro-asian solidarity feels so crucial. others told me that the narrator was absolutely insufferable. i decided, then, that i probably wouldn't read the novel. anyway, i obviously did, and i clearly liked it. if i address all of these things this review will get too long, but i will say i understand the critique re: backdrop and i feel like it is complicated. i go back and forth. the story is not *about* black lives matter and it's ultimately not a story about solidarity either. the heart of the story is reed's relationship with his mother and the crucial lesson she attempts to impart upon him is the importance of one's lived reality. rather than the performance of perfect politics and allyship, his mother guides him to focus on what is in front of him. anyway, already sensing this getting too long so moving on.
reed is an insufferable narrator, a young and over eager Man™ who is all too ready to "educate" someone (mostly his korean mother, an accomplished organizer) and tell them why they're complicit in oppression. what was absent from the reviews i read was that reed's insufferability is in many ways the point AND, more importantly, that the novel doesn't let him off the hook for being a dick. he is constantly slapped around by literally everyone around him, who see how ridiculous he is being and it is this dynamic that makes the novel readable imo. the novel itself is about all the growing reed needs to do--to realize that we all live in a space of contradiction, that movement building and organizing is not about analysis and abstract principles, but about the slow and unglamorous work of relationship building. even though the novel is narrated by reed, i could often feel distance between reed himself and his voice as narrator and i think that also helps with the readability.
i get why people don't like this novel and can't finish it. reed consistently being a dick to his loving parents and his friends is certainly annoying, and it's sometimes just very painful. it's cringe to admit, but i responded to this novel as strongly as i did because reed felt resonant to me and my own distant past of being 21 and entering into organizing from an academic space. i was never the asshole reed was (though maybe that's not for me to say, clown emoji), but that's because of gender and reed is definitely, as i said above, a Man™, one who always feels entitled to speak and to be heard. one of the main things that stood out to me in the novel was the gender imbalance of reed's personal growth all being facilitated by the women around him--his mother, his friend CJ, his fellow organizer tiff. he is the recipient of so much care and gendered labor. where are the dudes in his life to come collect him? anyway, feeling this over and over made me crave a story about intergenerational organizing between women and how different that story would be. i will say though that the women in the novel for the most part do feel fleshed out and realized, especially his mother who goes through her own smaller growing process.
i feel like we are in a cultural moment where we receive a lot of bad takes and awful representations of political organizing. reed at his worst plays right into that, embodying the stereotypical asshole that no one can stand. but i think this novel goes a step beyond all of those other stories in the way that it commits itself to nuancing that. again, i don't think this novel was trying to do anything as ambitious as maybe a lot of people thought (myself included). it is no treatise on afro-asian solidarity, nor does it offer any new and stunning analysis of race in america. but it does narrativize the first and maybe one of the most important lessons of organizing: if we want to change the world, we must first change ourselves and our world. it begins from wherever you are.
anyway, i loved this novel. once you get past how deeply annoying reed is (if you can), the rest of the novel moves with a good pace and is engaging--for me, a page turner. it depicts a version of LA i know, mainly ktown, and it brought out a fondness for my own times there. reed's growth is somewhat slow going, and there are a lot of emotional highs and lows. it hit really hard at some points with both pain but also wow, chicken skin moments. the endings of the last two chapters made me feel something. the novel offers a lot of wisdom through the supporting characters, lessons i think i needed to hear right now. for me, it's a novel about patience and generosity, about how to live life and be in relation with ourself and others.
narrated by a 21 year old korean and chinese student at columbia, WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON follows reed's first trip back home to LA since becoming an activist in new york. he debuts a new self to his family and friends, one who is fluent in political theory and has seemingly perfect, pristine politics. he is eager to learn about his parent's past involvement in communism and black-korean community building, but is consistently frustrated with what they tell him and what he perceives as the hypocrisy and contradictory lifestyles of everyone around him.
this was a book i was so excited for, but when it first came out, i read multiple critical reviews. most of these reviews came from black readers who wrote about their discontent with the way the novel uses the murder of akai gurley as a backdrop for the novel, and the absence of black characters in a novel to which afro-asian solidarity feels so crucial. others told me that the narrator was absolutely insufferable. i decided, then, that i probably wouldn't read the novel. anyway, i obviously did, and i clearly liked it. if i address all of these things this review will get too long, but i will say i understand the critique re: backdrop and i feel like it is complicated. i go back and forth. the story is not *about* black lives matter and it's ultimately not a story about solidarity either. the heart of the story is reed's relationship with his mother and the crucial lesson she attempts to impart upon him is the importance of one's lived reality. rather than the performance of perfect politics and allyship, his mother guides him to focus on what is in front of him. anyway, already sensing this getting too long so moving on.
reed is an insufferable narrator, a young and over eager Man™ who is all too ready to "educate" someone (mostly his korean mother, an accomplished organizer) and tell them why they're complicit in oppression. what was absent from the reviews i read was that reed's insufferability is in many ways the point AND, more importantly, that the novel doesn't let him off the hook for being a dick. he is constantly slapped around by literally everyone around him, who see how ridiculous he is being and it is this dynamic that makes the novel readable imo. the novel itself is about all the growing reed needs to do--to realize that we all live in a space of contradiction, that movement building and organizing is not about analysis and abstract principles, but about the slow and unglamorous work of relationship building. even though the novel is narrated by reed, i could often feel distance between reed himself and his voice as narrator and i think that also helps with the readability.
i get why people don't like this novel and can't finish it. reed consistently being a dick to his loving parents and his friends is certainly annoying, and it's sometimes just very painful. it's cringe to admit, but i responded to this novel as strongly as i did because reed felt resonant to me and my own distant past of being 21 and entering into organizing from an academic space. i was never the asshole reed was (though maybe that's not for me to say, clown emoji), but that's because of gender and reed is definitely, as i said above, a Man™, one who always feels entitled to speak and to be heard. one of the main things that stood out to me in the novel was the gender imbalance of reed's personal growth all being facilitated by the women around him--his mother, his friend CJ, his fellow organizer tiff. he is the recipient of so much care and gendered labor. where are the dudes in his life to come collect him? anyway, feeling this over and over made me crave a story about intergenerational organizing between women and how different that story would be. i will say though that the women in the novel for the most part do feel fleshed out and realized, especially his mother who goes through her own smaller growing process.
i feel like we are in a cultural moment where we receive a lot of bad takes and awful representations of political organizing. reed at his worst plays right into that, embodying the stereotypical asshole that no one can stand. but i think this novel goes a step beyond all of those other stories in the way that it commits itself to nuancing that. again, i don't think this novel was trying to do anything as ambitious as maybe a lot of people thought (myself included). it is no treatise on afro-asian solidarity, nor does it offer any new and stunning analysis of race in america. but it does narrativize the first and maybe one of the most important lessons of organizing: if we want to change the world, we must first change ourselves and our world. it begins from wherever you are.
anyway, i loved this novel. once you get past how deeply annoying reed is (if you can), the rest of the novel moves with a good pace and is engaging--for me, a page turner. it depicts a version of LA i know, mainly ktown, and it brought out a fondness for my own times there. reed's growth is somewhat slow going, and there are a lot of emotional highs and lows. it hit really hard at some points with both pain but also wow, chicken skin moments. the endings of the last two chapters made me feel something. the novel offers a lot of wisdom through the supporting characters, lessons i think i needed to hear right now. for me, it's a novel about patience and generosity, about how to live life and be in relation with ourself and others.
February 19, 2023
Anything that makes me cry on BART gets 5 stars :’)
TRULY this book is what I needed in 2020 after I tried to read those books directed broadly toward deconstructing whiteness and though I tried to “take what resonates, leave what doesn’t,” I felt confused! It feels stupid to admit but this is goodreads and basically my diary. Like “Me and White Supremacy”…what??? *wounded apologetic heart emoji*
WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON has filled a void.
***
A beautiful portrait, offering, and salve to our collective understanding of Asian moms in the US, namely mothers whose life experiences are rooted in the tumult of the Pacific Wars. I hadn’t really considered the similarities between Korea and Vietnam before. The wounds, man.
As such, Lee Wong begins to unravel the archetype of the Tiger Mom, only the very edges of it. He knows his limits and his characters’ limits. Lee Wong holds space for contemporary Asian American issues and roots them in Zen Buddhism, which feels correct, rooting in a spiritual practice. Otherwise we are miserable! Miserable!! Lee Wong walks us through the bodily sensations of where that weight may be and then what that lifting could feel like.
His main character pretty successfully embodies the guilt-stricken, sacrificial, empty, wandering monotony of his particular existence, and skirts naming the intense depression that plagues…almost every single Asian person I know? If we don’t poke at this lump, we are bound to repeat and perpetuate so much harm and buy into every system that extracts our pain as a weapon to uphold oppression.
[me thinking about Asian male misogyny and nearly developing a migraine…how are we gonna fix that one??? Sobbing emoji]
***
One night, H and I had the rare bliss of a night with No Thoughts, Head Empty, and they said, “this is exactly how my primordial ancestors wanted me to be.”
One potential answer: THINK LESS.
TRULY this book is what I needed in 2020 after I tried to read those books directed broadly toward deconstructing whiteness and though I tried to “take what resonates, leave what doesn’t,” I felt confused! It feels stupid to admit but this is goodreads and basically my diary. Like “Me and White Supremacy”…what??? *wounded apologetic heart emoji*
WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON has filled a void.
***
A beautiful portrait, offering, and salve to our collective understanding of Asian moms in the US, namely mothers whose life experiences are rooted in the tumult of the Pacific Wars. I hadn’t really considered the similarities between Korea and Vietnam before. The wounds, man.
As such, Lee Wong begins to unravel the archetype of the Tiger Mom, only the very edges of it. He knows his limits and his characters’ limits. Lee Wong holds space for contemporary Asian American issues and roots them in Zen Buddhism, which feels correct, rooting in a spiritual practice. Otherwise we are miserable! Miserable!! Lee Wong walks us through the bodily sensations of where that weight may be and then what that lifting could feel like.
His main character pretty successfully embodies the guilt-stricken, sacrificial, empty, wandering monotony of his particular existence, and skirts naming the intense depression that plagues…almost every single Asian person I know? If we don’t poke at this lump, we are bound to repeat and perpetuate so much harm and buy into every system that extracts our pain as a weapon to uphold oppression.
[me thinking about Asian male misogyny and nearly developing a migraine…how are we gonna fix that one??? Sobbing emoji]
***
One night, H and I had the rare bliss of a night with No Thoughts, Head Empty, and they said, “this is exactly how my primordial ancestors wanted me to be.”
One potential answer: THINK LESS.
October 10, 2022
When self preclaimed activist read comes home to visit his Korean/Chinese family it’s because his grandma doesn’t have much time left but when he informs his Korean mother and Chinese father he is dropping out of college at Columbia to be a full-time protester his visit Home gets turned into so much more. The more he hangs out with his parents collectively and individually the more confused he is. They were previously protesters in activist and when he decides to interview his mom Enron who created the Korean black coalition it doesn’t go the way he thinks it will and throughout all this his mom is bringing him to yoga and other self-care appointments he protest at all either in his head or outwardly and even goes as far is calling other Koreans appropriator‘s. Will read get what he believes is the truth from his family visit or in the end will what he thought was important still be as important? I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was first thrown off by all the racist talk all about white people but once I kept reading I couldn’t stop it was so good I loved his mom so much and wish I could’ve been her friend and although there was no consolation or even a stray comment about how not all white people are racist or in a position to have power I still enjoyed the book. I originally got this book because I thought it was a nonfiction book but I’m still glad I got it and glad I got to read it. Please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.
May 8, 2025
Really enjoyable in a painful way. Would highly recommend. For anyone who is starting the book and hesitant to continue I would say just keep going. Delivers a lot of impactful messages within a short number of pages but does so compellingly. I would agree with some other reviewers that the dialogue does read as a series of twitter threads at times but without giving much away, I think that's kind of the point, especially early on.
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