A Book with a View: Afterparties by Anthony So

SSJCPL Podcast Network

Welcome to A Book with a View, a Goodreads Virtual Book Club! This month we read a short story collection by a local author from Stockton, CA; Afterparties: Stories by Anthony Veasna So.

Afterparties offers an expansive portrait of the lives of Cambodian-Americans. As the children of refugees carve out radical new paths for themselves in California, they shoulder the inherited weight of the Khmer Rouge genocide and grapple with the complexities of race, sexuality, friendship, and family. A high school badminton coach and failing grocery store owner tries to relive his glory days by beating a rising star teenage player. Two drunken brothers attend a wedding afterparty and hatch a plan to expose their shady uncle’s snubbing of the bride and groom. A queer love affair sparks between an older tech entrepreneur trying to launch a “safe space” app and a disillusioned young teacher obsessed with Moby-Dick. And in the sweeping final story, a nine-year-old child learns that his mother survived a racist school shooter.

With nuanced emotional precision, gritty humor, and compassionate insight into the intimacy, emotional and sexual, of queer and immigrant communities, the stories in Afterparties deliver an explosive introduction to the work of Anthony Veasna So.

To continue the discussion head over to goodreads.com search SSJCPL. Also check out the library's new podcast that features this book club! Search SSJCPL Podcast Network on your favorite podcast platform.

#ssjcpl #ssjcplreading #afterparties #anthonyso #bookclub