Right Now

I just finished reading a book that had me addicted and I felt like I was on a heist. Yellowface by Rebecca Kuang is a satire of the publishing industry and its brazen exploration of the millennial culture. It’s one of the most gripping books I’ve read in a long time. It’s the sort of intrigue that the Brits are known for. The story begins with the freak accident death of young, famed writer Athena Liu chokes on a Pancake mixture, setting the preposterous tone for the rest of the book. Her death is witnessed by her sometimes-friend and hidden jealous counterpart, an aspiring but currently failing novelist June Hayward.

June, an opportunist decides before calling the authorities to steal Athena’s unfinished manuscript and publishes it under her name to acclaim. The novel throws her into the fame, money, and relevance, the kind of attention and admiration she’s always desired. But when her secret threatens to become known, June must decide how far she will go to maintain her reputation.

There’s no killing in the novel but there is some dark humor. I felt like I got an inside glimpse into the millennial mind including the enormous need for social media acceptance and its dependency, sense of entitlement, political correctness, student debt, and the fear of ownership.

That took me back into this video that is several years old now but I got such a kick out of it when it first came out. It still makes me laugh at its accuracy.

I hope you’re enjoying your last days of summer, but beware the heat isn’t over yet…unfortunately.