The cry for individual identity can be no louder than in [this] piercing collection.[F]ierce and refreshing. -- Carlos Lozada (Washington Post) With gonzo candor and intellectual capaciousness, Yang's Du Bois-inflected essays probe the identity crises of Asian American men and their 'peculiar burden of nonrecognition.' -- O Magazine As Yang's avid followers already know, his laser scrutiny spares no one--not even Yang himself. -- The Millions Incisive and provocative.Yang provides piercing, prickly insight into the challenges Asian-Americans face from racial and cultural bias, with literary style. -- Publishers Weekly Yang writes with elegance and a fearless interest in the uncommon and unsayable. -- Booklist [A] perceptive, personal view of the lives of Asian-Americans.

-- Kirkus Reviews Nobody writes sentences (or profiles) like Wesley Yang. He is our Balzac. -- Elif Batuman, author of The Idiot This is a spectacular essay collection, as eloquent and stylishly written as it is morally essential. With lucidity and unsentimental humanity, Wesley Yang shows us a new type of forgotten man, one whose suffering is primarily psychological. We often think of the brutality of private life as the natural province of fiction or memoir, but Yang combines the novel's power to dissect personal psychology with the breadth, directness and raw honesty of the essay. A stunning achievement, this book deserves to be read and re-read for years to come. -- Adelle Waldman, author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. Wesley Yang's unsparing vision always affects me powerfully.

-- Mark Greif, author of Against Everything A terrifically honest writer, Wesley Yang articulates feelings others are too afraid to call up, let alone confront. This collection is essential because it adheres to no ideology; Yang panders to no one. Instead, with sharp, and even Naipaulian, prose, he takes us deep into the discomfort zones of racial and political discourse. -- Karan Mahajan, author of The Association of Small Bombs Wesley Yang's pen is sharp, his imagination adventurous and his empathy devastating. His words snap a messy world into focus. -- Molly Young, author of D C-T!.