Book Review
Disorientation
By Elaine Hsieh Chou
Audiobook Narrator: Jennifer Kim
Publisher: Penguin Press
Published Date: 03/22/22

Synopsis:
After spending years trying to blend into a dominant white culture, Ingrid Yang begins to question the indelible mark her East Asian heritage has played on her life as she comes to grips with discoveries, she makes about a Chinese American poet she is researching for her Ph.D. dissertation.

Thoughts:
Although I am still trying to sit with my feelings on this novel, I will say that there are so many layers and discussions to be had from this book that I will probably be thinking about it for a long time. Ingrid Yang was an incredible main character with so much depth and humanity. This story really forced her, as a character, to examine her own racial biases as well as how she, herself, played into the model minority stereotype. During her journey, she begins to see how she had been blind to all of the ways that she played into that stereotype while also not questioning the paths that the white men in her life created for her to follow. The reader gets a front-row seat to watch an incredibly naive Ph.D. student work through topics that she had never allowed herself to face. Overall, the writing was well done. The plot although not action-packed still kept me reading because I cared about Ingrid's journey. This was a phenomenal debut novel by Elaine Hsieh Chou and I can't wait to see what she does next.

A satirical, thoughtful debut that i enjoyed!! a little different then my usual reads but i heftily enjoyed this, i found myself laughing at certain parts and deep in thought at others, but also a little overwhelmed by emotion at a certain bit. the writing wasn’t my favorite at first but it grew on me.

I was grateful for the opportunity to read this as an ARC, however I will admit it was a DNF for me which is rare. I’m not sure what didn’t exactly click but I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

Ingrid Yang is a PhD candidate at Barnes University studying the poetic techniques of the late-Chinese American poet Xiou-Wen Chou. Although she’s in her final year, her boredom towards the subject-matter - which was thrust upon her by the eager (white) department head of the East Asian Studies department who assumed Ingrid’s Taiwanese-American background would translate well to the study of a Chinese-American poet - prevents her from making any real headway on her dissertation. Instead, Ingrid sits in the library day after day idly passing the time. One day, while sitting in the archive, Ingrid comes across a note left on one of the poems she had been studying, sending Ingrid on a wild goose chase to uncover its meaning, which ultimately reveals shocking secrets and truths about Chou and Barnes.

It’s hard to summarize the plot of the book without giving away the many twists and turns that give this biting satire its punch. Hseih Chou has written a remarkable debut that humorously and deftly tackles the big issues of discrimination against Asians, political correctness on campus, and institutionalized elitism. This is satire at its very best - it makes you laugh and it makes you think.

Unsure of my feelings on this book. I don't know that I cared what happened to Ingrid throughout the novel, but I couldn't put it down. I was so interested in what was happening AROUND the main character, I just kept reading!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this eGalley. This book gave me Possession by A.S, Byatt vibes in the beginning, in the way that it seemed to almost be satirizing it, I just this this is such a great book, and was a hilarious look at academia and grad school. Saying too much about what happens I think will ruin the book, but it was an extremely funny and interesting story that interrogated many serious topics such as racism, drug abuse, and more.

This was a difficult read for me. I have to admit up front that I probably should have known that it might be going in, as I don't generally enjoy satire very much. I was hoping this would be an exception to the rule, since I had read so many glowing reviews and the premise was so enticing. Ultimately I felt that Ingrid was a very strange character and it was quite unpleasant and confusing being in her head. I found myself connecting most to her when she was earnestly contemplating and grappling with her identity, assimilation, Orientalism/racism, and who she really was vs. who she had been socialized or groomed to be. I would probably have connected more to a book that dealt with these issues head-on. Unfortunately, the particular humor didn't appeal to me very much, and I found myself really frustrated by Ingrid's constantly changing plans and her inability to see things coming. I honestly cannot believe how long it took her to figure out that Retlaw Ekul Nosbig is just Walter Luke Gibson backwards. I really can't buy that a 29-year-old PhD student who spends her time studying poetry would miss that. For DAYS. I was intrigued by the character relationships, especially between Ingrid and Alex, and by Vivian as a character. I would have liked to see more nuance. I think ultimately, either this just went completely over my head, or this could have used more editing and could have been much shorter. It's possible I'm completely missing the mark here. In the end, it just wasn't to my taste. As a satire, maybe it works, but I would have liked to have seen more subtlety.

I read this book a while ago and certain topics and scenes still cross my mind till this day. Disorientation was such an amazing read! It being one of my most anticipated reads this year it definitely did not disappoint. This novel is a great thought-provoking, reflective piece on academia. This book is not a light read as Ingrid, the main character had to deal with very ignorant people, and it was very "disorienting". This book leaves you feeling every single emotion possible. Highly recommend!

This book tells the story of Ingrid as she tries to finish her dissertation on the most famous Chinese American poet. Except, as she delves deeper into her research, it turns out the poet isn’t at all what he said he was. I really enjoyed this book, from its slightly exaggerated ridiculousness (but only slightly) to all of the flawed characters. In the midst of a good story, Chou’s book is also a meditation on race, gender, and academia, but not in a very honest way. It went on a bit long, and I kept thinking we must be near the end when we were not, but I still really enjoyed the ride.

A smart, funny take on the campus novel (and so much more). Chou can write a sentence! A wonderful romp!

3.5 stars / Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Press for the ARC!

My head is still spinning from reading this in the span of 24 hours, give or take. ‘Disorientation’ is… disorienting, to say the least.

Ingrid Yang is on her 8th year of her PhD, struggling to complete her dissertation on the great (fictional) poet ‘Xiao-Wen Chou’, when a discovery she makes one day while in the archives sends her onto what appears to be a wild goose chase, but ultimately becomes something far more chilling.


From the synopsis, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from ‘Disorientation’- perhaps a novel about the horrors of academia. Instead, ‘Disorientation’ delivers characters that occasionally border on overly caricature-like (although I sort of lived for the margaret and daryl sideplot!), discussions around white supremacy and race that manage to capture the complexity of it instead of providing an ‘answer’ and ultimately, a book so compelling (even when I couldn’t even tell whether I liked it at points) that I didn’t stop thinking about it until the end.

I have my own personal gripes with the book’s plotline and characters, uncannily cartoonish at times that I questioned if it was truly suitable for some of the topics ‘Disorientation’ chooses to delve into, but I also think Chou’s writing style works perfectly for satire. I felt as though I was spiralling along with Ingrid the entire time (to both my amusement and frustration) & the absolute chaos of that ending (!!!) is not an image that will leave my mind anytime soon. Try this if you’re looking for something startlingly fresh or if you also sometimes hate academia.

Wow just wow. A big goal of mine in 2022 was to continue reading books from more diverse voices and Chou's debut may be one of my favorite discovery books of 2022. I love books about college, I think they are so much fun and underrated and getting to experience it through Ingrids eyes was so fun.

While these are not experiences I have lived in, I loved seeing the fun satirical ride of race, social justice, and what it means to be Asian American. I don't think this book will be for everyone as like Ingrid this book goes into a lot of journeys but that's what made it so fun for me as someone who also has anxiety.

Overall, I think books like this need to be read more and I cannot recommend Disorientation enough.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC for my honest review.

Ingrid Yang is a 29-year-old Taiwanese American and she is struggling with her eighth year of PhD on East Asian Studies. She’s been researching the late Chinese poet, Xiao-Wen Cho, subject that her white PhD advisor insists on. One day, she finds a curious note in the Chou archives and with her best friend, they decide to dig in the mystery.

This is an absolute treasure of a book and I can't believe that this is Chou's debut! My first impression of Ingrid was that she has a unique angle of thoughts and an incomparable humour. I learned to appreciate her as a deeply human and messy person whose over-analysis/assumption about meaningless incidents, that at first left me unhinged, made total sense as the story progresses and kept me completely entertained. Through her, one learns not to be complacent or passive or even acts according to women's societal expectation. Honestly, I had no idea what was going on in the first 100 pages yet the story became a complex web of character development with satire and chaos at its best. From Ingrid stalking Chou (in a professional and personal level) to break-ins and Anti-Asian propaganda, one wasn't able to predict the direction of the plot and I was glued to the pages.

Chou excels at covering the different experiences of Asian diaspora while she doesn't shy away from criticizing about Asia fetishizing, Anti-Asian feeling and white people profiting from Asian culture (can we talk about Ingrid's white fiancé, who is a Japanese translator even if he doesn't speak Japanese? Her discussion with Stephen packed a punch and it was just brilliant!). To see our identity stolen/erased, our culture being taken advantage and for (non-Asian) people to claim the oppression without experiencing it left me often disturbed and infuriated.

The portrayal of Asianness (or lack of) was utterly accurate and made me weirdly laugh. This novel tells that there's no such thing as reverse racism and how intoxicating can white supremacy be. Lastly, the revelations were unexpected and the ending, authentic.

Detailed and profound, DISORIENTATION is a perfect mix of funny dark academia and thought-provoking narrative. Chou nailed at writing an ambitious debut which I can't resume in any word other than genius. If you need a book that precisely examines Asian Americans, particularly women, this is it!

ps: did you laugh at the part about hoarding? or rolled your eyes at the association between Taiwanese and pad thai? or felt disgusted about yellow fever?

An extraordinary debut novel a look at the world of academia the search for a phd.The cover is outstanding drew me right in from the first page to the last I was involved will be recommending.An author to follow.#netgalley #penguinpress

Disorientation follows Ingrid as she is trying to finish her PhD on an American-Chinese poet. As she discovers that the poet might have some skeletons in the closet, the plot moves along quickly and things escalate at her university. Usually, I am not a fan of satire in books because it can get ridiculous and annoying for me to read but in this instance, it worked very well. The author let the plot go wild in places but the language stayed very much on track, making it a very enjoyable read throughout. I read most of the book while on a plane and it kept me very entertained and hooked. The plot and characters also raised some very interesting discussion topics, making this a very suitable book for a book club in my opinion.

Again, my compliments to the chef as this was a very well-balanced execution of raising issues, entertaining the reader while making no compromises on language. Most of the side characters served clear purposes and were not the most fleshed out but this worked well given the satirical form.

Thank you very much to Penguin and Netgalley for providing me with a copy!

Disorientation follows Ingrid Yang, a Ph.D. Student who is struggling to finish her dissertation on the late poet Xiao-Wen Chou. When Ingrid accidentally discovers a strange and curious note in the Chou archives, she convinces herself that it is her ticket out of academic hell. But her clumsy efforts to unravel the note’s message lead to an explosive discovery that upends her entire life and the lives of those around her.

Disorientation is a blistering satirical novel that tackles racism, sexism, and ableism in academia. As a recovering academic with crippling anxiety, I related to our protagonist a great deal. It was also incredibly messy, which is a must for good literary fiction in my opinion. However, the plot was fairly predictable. Overall a solid debut. Would recommend for fans of Sally Rooney and Lily King

I really enjoyed this book, and maybe one of my favorite reads of the year so far. It’s sharp, funny, and incredibly reflective.

Taiwanese American PhD student Ingrid wants nothing more than to wrap up her dissertation and move on with her life. But while researching the famous Chinese poet at the heart of her work, she discovers a strange note that sends her on a wild journey to find out what it means.

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT. I am completely obsessed with this book's sense of humor, outrageous characters, shocking twists, and powerful message. Elaine Hsieh Chou basically puts her protagonist — and the reader — into a boiling a frog situation. It starts off feeling a little funny and irreverent, and by the time you realize what's going on, you're in the middle of a rolling boil. I think it's best to go into this book without reading too much about the plot, because the surprises are part of the magic. So no spoilers here, just a strong recommendation to read this book immediately!

Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for this advanced copy!

Oh man was this a great book. Solid 4 to 4.5. I hated putting it down; the chapters flew by.

I love a good academic fraud story. And I particularly loved how Chou wove Asian identity in America and racial justice politics into this story, using Ingrid's journey of self-discovery to buoy her continuing search for a dissertation topic and ongoing investigation into a supposedly Asian poet.

Chou's writing is deft and wonderful, approachable and fun. Her pacing was fantastic, never letting the story drag, introducing new twists and turns just as you think you (and Ingrid) understand everything. But this didn't feel like a suspense novel! Instead, it felt like a novel of witty fiction that uses the current discussions of racial equity, identity, and academia to discuss absurdity in graduate education and academia.

Ingrid as a main character was all over the place, but that felt like the point, as she comes more and more into focus for the reader as she comes more and more into focus for herself. Her self-realization felt like a breath of fresh air for the reader as well as the character and her friends and other supporting characters were just as much as they needed to be to keep the plot moving forward without getting bogged down.

I don't know what I can say without spoiling the book, but I really loved this and it was so insightful with regards to academia and the idea of the model minority and I just loved this. The only reason its not five starts is at times it felt like there was almost too much happening, but really the author has firm control over the plot at all times and I should have trusted Chou to bring it home, as she certaintly did.

This book was pretty frustrating to read, partly because of some confusion I had with it, and partly because Chou is an excellent writer and I was feeling the frustration of the characters. I'm not sure if there were any likable characters here which made it hard for me to stay engaged. There were also two very big plots going on simultaneously: Ingrid's big discovery and the aftermath, and her conflict with her boyfriend and his fetishizing of Asian women. While it is definitely realistic to have more than one big event going on, I wish that this novel had focused more on one or the other. Though, given the title, maybe that was intentional. It brought up a lot of important topics including the power of white men in academia and the experiences of Asian American women. Overall, Disorientation was entertaining and thought-provoking, but maybe too disorienting for me!