Afterparties
 | |
| Author | Anthony Veasna So |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Ecco Press |
Publication date | August 3, 2021 |
| Pages | 260 |
| ISBN | 978-0-06-304990-1 |
Afterparties is a short story collection by writer Anthony Veasna So, published in 2021 by Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins. The collection won the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Prize for Best First Book and the Ferro-Grumley Award, which is awarded to LGBTQ fiction.[1][2] The story "Superking Son Scores Again" won the Joyce Carol Oates Award in Fiction from Syracuse University.[3]
Content
Afterparties centers on stories of Cambodian Americans living in Northern California, both in the Central Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.[4] Many of the characters are survivors of the Cambodian genocide or are the children of survivors, and the stories grapple with generational differences and the impacts of trauma.[4][5] "Generational Differences" is also the title of the last story, which follows a survivor of the racially-motivated 1989 Stockton schoolyard shooting.[6] Additionally, several of the stories in Afterparties explore queerness.[5]
The stories in Afterparties are interconnected, meaning characters from one story appear or are mentioned in other stories. All of the stories except "Human Development" were published in magazines or literary journals prior to their release in this collection.
| Title | Publication |
|---|---|
| "Three Women of Chuck's Donuts" | The New Yorker[7] |
| "Superking Son Scores Again" | n+1[8] |
| "Maly, Maly, Maly" | The Paris Review[9] |
| "The Shop" | Granta[10] |
| "The Monks" | n+1[11] |
| "We Would've Been Princes" | American Short Fiction[12] |
| "Somaly Serey, Serey Somaly" | BOMB[13] |
| "Generational Differences" | ZYZZYVA[6] |
Reception
Reviews of Afterparties were overwhelmingly positive.[14] Several reviews noted the humor contained in many stories, woven throughout the serious subject matter.[4][5] Many reviews also note the bittersweetness of the book's publication and acclaim, as the author passed away from an accidental drug overdose at the age of 28, less than a year before the book came out.[4]
References
- ^ "John Leonard Prize". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ^ "The Ferro Grumley Award". www.ferrogrumley.org. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ^ Green, Penelope (2020-12-13). "Anthony Veasna So, Author on the Brink of Stardom, Dies at 28". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ^ a b c d Garner, Dwight (2021-07-27). "Witty and Soulful Stories From a Writer Who Was Just Getting Started". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ^ a b c Hsu, Hua (2021-07-26). "Anthony Veasna So Takes On Trauma, but Doesn't Leave Out the Jokes". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ^ a b "ZYZZYVA Issues Archive: Volume 37, #1, Spring 2021". ZYZZYVA. 2021-12-24. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ^ So, Anthony Veasna (2020-02-03). ""Three Women of Chuck's Donuts"". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ^ "Superking Son Scores Again | Anthony Veasna So". n+1. 2018-04-13. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ^ "Maly, Maly, Maly". Vol. Spring 2021, no. 236. 2021. ISSN 0031-2037. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ^ "The Shop". Granta. 2020-01-13. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ^ "The Monks". n+1. 2018-07-13. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ^ Reitberger, Adeena (2021-09-07). "Issue 73 - American Short Fiction". Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ^ "BOMB Magazine | Somaly Serey, Serey Somaly". BOMB Magazine. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ^ "Book Marks reviews of Afterparties: Stories by Anthony Veasna So". Book Marks. Retrieved 2024-05-14.