Go Home!

Anthologies can be hit or miss and the overarching theme laid out is a bit of a stretch for some of the collected pieces. But certain selections really deliver. Alexander Chee makes it look easy and it was comforting to see Chang-Rae Lee again - he, my first introduction to a Korean writer in English. The heretofore unknown author Alice Sola Kim's “Mother's Lock Up Your Daughters Because They are Terrifying” was absolutely fantastic. I loved the rock and roll, Middle-East meets West poetry of Mohja Kahf. Jason Koo's poem “Bon Chul Koo and the Hall of Fame” speaks to something very familiar.

Sure some of the pieces were a bit inscrutable, not the least of which the poem written entirely in Arabic, but I appreciate the introduction to some new talent pulled from the Asian diaspora. This is the perfect roadmap to some great future reads.