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A review by saareman
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
4.0
White Lies (Don't Do It)
Review of the William Morrow / HarperCollins Publishers hardcover edition along with the simultaneously released HarperAudio audiobook edition narrated by [a:Helen Laser|18073187|Helen Laser|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] (May 16, 2023).
As things progressed in Yellowface, I started to wonder if it would go down the road of [b:Assassin of Secrets|11641154|Assassin of Secrets|Q.R. Markham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348537657l/11641154._SY75_.jpg|16585057] (2011) & [b:Never Say Goodbye|13584811|Never Say Goodbye|Quentin Rowan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344702014l/13584811._SY75_.jpg|19171898] (2012). In the latter real-life situation, the first book was plagiarized from various other spy novels and published under the penname [a:Q.R. Markham|4983692|Q.R. Markham|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1317179538p2/4983692.jpg] (it was discovered, withdrawn and pulped by the publisher after only a few days) and then the second book presented a memoir and a confession by the true-life [a:Quentin Rowan|2989550|Quentin Rowan|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png].
Yellowface doesn't go that route however, at least not completely. Failed white writer June Hayward is sometime besties with successful author Athena Liu, who is of Chinese heritage. Hayward is on the scene at Liu's aparment when Liu dies an accidental death by choking. Before the paramedics arrive, Hayward steals Liu's (apparently unshared with anyone) manuscript for her next novel, about Chinese workers in World War One. She edits and revises it and publishes it as "The Last Front" under her own penname of Jupiter Song (chosen to give her a possibly Asian sounding heritage).
Various suspicions about the authenticity of the writing arise as the book goes through publishing and promotion, but Hayward keeps bluffing her way through it all, albeit with the occasional attack of a guilty conscious. It all comes to a head with a perhaps fateful climactic confrontation on the Exorcist steps in Washington, D.C.
The so-called 'Exorcist' steps in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., the site of a climactic scene in the novel "Yellowface" and in "The Exorcist" (1973) film. Image sourced from Wikipedia by Dmitry K - The Exorcist Stairs!, CC BY 2.0, Link.
Yellowface is a devastating satire about the publishing industry and its marketing of diverse voices. I thought of it as somewhat of a companion piece to Jennifer Croft's recent [b:The Extinction of Irena Rey|172979818|The Extinction of Irena Rey|Jennifer Croft|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1688980438l/172979818._SY75_.jpg|181075299] which satirizes translators and books in translation.
I read Yellowface in a hardcover copy from the Toronto Public Library in parallel with listening to the audiobook edition. The narration by Helen Laser was excellent in all voices.
Soundtrack
You may have recognized from my lede that I co-opted it from the early hip-hop track White Lines (Don't Do It) (1983) by Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five. You can listen to it on YouTube here or on Spotify here.
Trivia and Links
Author R.F. Kuang was a recent guest at the Amnesty International Canada Book Club on August 1, 2024. You can read the Book Club's discussion guide for Yellowface here (Link opens a pdf file).
The Exorcist steps scene comes at the conclusion of the movie The Exorcist (1973) dir. William Friedkin adapted from William Peter Blatty's novel [b:The Exorcist|179780|The Exorcist|William Peter Blatty|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1375168676l/179780._SY75_.jpg|1945267] (1971), when the exorcism priests confront the demon Pazuzu who is contained within the girl child Regan. It is a spoiler of course, but you can watch that final scene on YouTube here.
Review of the William Morrow / HarperCollins Publishers hardcover edition along with the simultaneously released HarperAudio audiobook edition narrated by [a:Helen Laser|18073187|Helen Laser|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] (May 16, 2023).
I love writing unlikable narrators. But the trick here is it's much more fun to follow a character that does have a sympathetic background, that does think reasonable thoughts about half the time, because then you're compelled to follow their logic to the horrible decisions they are making. - an excerpt from an NPR All Things Considered interview with author R.F. Kuang from May 16, 2023.
As things progressed in Yellowface, I started to wonder if it would go down the road of [b:Assassin of Secrets|11641154|Assassin of Secrets|Q.R. Markham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348537657l/11641154._SY75_.jpg|16585057] (2011) & [b:Never Say Goodbye|13584811|Never Say Goodbye|Quentin Rowan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344702014l/13584811._SY75_.jpg|19171898] (2012). In the latter real-life situation, the first book was plagiarized from various other spy novels and published under the penname [a:Q.R. Markham|4983692|Q.R. Markham|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1317179538p2/4983692.jpg] (it was discovered, withdrawn and pulped by the publisher after only a few days) and then the second book presented a memoir and a confession by the true-life [a:Quentin Rowan|2989550|Quentin Rowan|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png].
Yellowface doesn't go that route however, at least not completely. Failed white writer June Hayward is sometime besties with successful author Athena Liu, who is of Chinese heritage. Hayward is on the scene at Liu's aparment when Liu dies an accidental death by choking. Before the paramedics arrive, Hayward steals Liu's (apparently unshared with anyone) manuscript for her next novel, about Chinese workers in World War One. She edits and revises it and publishes it as "The Last Front" under her own penname of Jupiter Song (chosen to give her a possibly Asian sounding heritage).
Various suspicions about the authenticity of the writing arise as the book goes through publishing and promotion, but Hayward keeps bluffing her way through it all, albeit with the occasional attack of a guilty conscious. It all comes to a head with a perhaps fateful climactic confrontation on the Exorcist steps in Washington, D.C.
The so-called 'Exorcist' steps in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., the site of a climactic scene in the novel "Yellowface" and in "The Exorcist" (1973) film. Image sourced from Wikipedia by Dmitry K - The Exorcist Stairs!, CC BY 2.0, Link.
Yellowface is a devastating satire about the publishing industry and its marketing of diverse voices. I thought of it as somewhat of a companion piece to Jennifer Croft's recent [b:The Extinction of Irena Rey|172979818|The Extinction of Irena Rey|Jennifer Croft|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1688980438l/172979818._SY75_.jpg|181075299] which satirizes translators and books in translation.
I read Yellowface in a hardcover copy from the Toronto Public Library in parallel with listening to the audiobook edition. The narration by Helen Laser was excellent in all voices.
Soundtrack
You may have recognized from my lede that I co-opted it from the early hip-hop track White Lines (Don't Do It) (1983) by Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five. You can listen to it on YouTube here or on Spotify here.
Trivia and Links
Author R.F. Kuang was a recent guest at the Amnesty International Canada Book Club on August 1, 2024. You can read the Book Club's discussion guide for Yellowface here (Link opens a pdf file).
The Exorcist steps scene comes at the conclusion of the movie The Exorcist (1973) dir. William Friedkin adapted from William Peter Blatty's novel [b:The Exorcist|179780|The Exorcist|William Peter Blatty|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1375168676l/179780._SY75_.jpg|1945267] (1971), when the exorcism priests confront the demon Pazuzu who is contained within the girl child Regan. It is a spoiler of course, but you can watch that final scene on YouTube here.