disorientation by elaine hsieh chou

I purchased this book as a “blind date with a book” from Nowhere Bookshop. Like most blind dates, it can be fun and sometimes even memorable. I like the challenge of reading something that I normally wouldn’t pick up.

Disorientation is cross-genre; romcom and millennial malaise at times, while also walking the line of LitFic. I think it is probably a little too silly and satirical for the typical Litfic reader and too hard handed with the lessons learned for the typical romcom reader. Ingrid is a little unfocused, she is on her 8th year of her dissertation and agrees to write on a Chinese poet. Ingrid is American and her heritage is Taiwanese, so she is no stranger to micro aggressions and in how whiteness is seen as default. She has a white fiancé, Steven, whose presence felt superfluous.

The book is readable but probably too long, I wanted more dialogue for character development and to get into the setting. I appreciated the turns that the book takes, the plot itself is good and well-paced with several reveals and changes in direction. Overall we are engrossed in a world that asks more questions of it than it answers.

This would be a good book club selection as the motivations of the characters give us lots of question. You can examine the ideas and themes and relate them to how we all experience racism and the way whiteness is centered in our society.