You cannot resist me when my hair is in braids / Frances Kai-Hwa Wang.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wang, Frances Kai-Hwa, author.

Series:

Made in Michigan writers series.

Made in Michigan Writers Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American poetry--Asian American authors.

American poetry.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (118 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Detroit, Michigan : Wayne State University Press, [2022]

Summary:

In the aftermath of a messy divorce, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang writes in the hope of beginning to build a new life with four children, bossy aunties, unreliable suitors, and an uncertain political landscape. The lyric essays in You Cannot Resist Me When My Hair Is in Braids deftly navigate the space between cultures and reflect on lessons learned from both Asian American elders and young multiracial children, punctuated by moments rich with cultural and linguistic nuance. In her prologue, Wang explains, "Buddhists say that suffering comes from unsatisfied desire, so for years I tried to close the door to desire. I was so successful, I not only closed the door, I locked it, barred it, nailed it shut, then stacked a bunch of furniture in front of it. And now that door is open, wide open, and all my insides are spilling out." Full of current events of the day and #HashtagsOfTheMoment, the topics in the collection are wide ranging, including cooking food to show love, surviving Chinese School, being an underpaid lecturer, defending against yellow dildos, navigating immigration issues, finding love in a time of elections, crying with children separated from their parents at the border, charting the landscape of frugal/hoarder elders during the pandemic, witnessing COVID-inspired anti-Asian American violence while reflecting on the death of Vincent Chin, teaching her sixteen-year-old son to drive after the deaths of Trayvon Martin and George Floyd, and trusting the power of writing herself into existence. Within these lyric essays, some of which are accompanied by artwork and art installations, Wang finds the courage and hope to speak out for herself and for an entire generation of Asian American women.A notable work in the landscape of Asian American literature as well as Midwest and Michigan-based literature, You Cannot Resist Me When My Hair Is in Braids features a clear and powerful voice that brings all people together in these political and pandemic times.

Contents:

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Notes and Acknowledgments

Prologue

Dreams of the Diaspora

Public Persona

Tsundere Pride or You Are So Prickly!

Texting Nostalgic for Kathmandu

The Californian

"Did you eat? means . . . I Love You."

Finding Home Between the Vincent Chin Case and COVID-19

Adventures with the Haircut Aunties

The World's Most Exciting Date

Poignant Truth, Precarious You (and Preparing for the Sriracha Apocalypse)

Learning to Drive Defensively

Crying on Airplanes

What Ever Happened to 王大中 (Wang Da Zhong)?

He Ain't You

A Suggestion of Salt

Falling, Mad and Alone

You Cannot Resist Me When My Hair Is in Braids

Tiny Modern Love Songs

DTW

"It's Not a Yellow Dildo!"

Talkin' to Whypipo

3 a.m. with Erhu

Down in the Basement of the DIA

the space between goodbye

Secret Crush

Sowing Aunties

Breath Rises

Epilogue: Lost Constellation

About the Author.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Wang, Frances Kai-Hwa You Cannot Resist Me When My Hair Is in Braids

ISBN:

9780814349427

0814349420

OCLC:

1303084052