This was my very first experience at reading stories about Cambodian-Americans. I literally had no idea everything that the first Cambodian immigrants went through and what I guess they still go through. And if they're queer? Even worse, I bet.
The stories were raw and honest and impactful. The writing style made you well aware of the feelings and details of the story.
I really enjoyed it and I will certainly do my research and find out more stories similar to this one.

What a stunner! Anthony veasna so (in his literary debut) brings readers into the world of Stockton, California and its Cambodian-American subculture in Afterparties. Immigrant mutigenerational families, school friendships, expectations, old resentments, clandestine gay hookups, superstitions, and the milestones of life (weddings, funerals) all come under the writers gaze in these 10 stort stories. So's language is immediate and undeniable. Humor and pathos, coupled with sharp detail and just the right balance of description and dialogue make this a great choice for readers of new Yorker level contemporary fiction.

What hits me the hardest about AFTERPARTIES is how the characters featured are mostly one or two generations removed from their ancestors who left Cambodia but the pain they carry is still so crippling.
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“Part of me wonders if the new generation should be allowed some freedom from the dreams of the dead.” (From “Somaly Serey, Serey Somaly”)
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Anthony Veasna So’s writing is crisp but not truncated and deep but not florid. This collection of interconnected shorts is thoughtful, thought-provoking, and essential to our understanding of Khmer Americans.

While I loved this collection, I am also mourning the loss of such a talented individual to not only the literary community but our Asian American one.

Afterthoughts by Anthony Veasna So is a collection of short stories that are unlike any other I’ve ever read. They are told from an outsider’s point of view, in this case the outsiders are sons and daughters of Cambodian immigrants/refugees. Many of the stories are told from the first person point of view; all the main characters share the common thread of parents who survived and escaped the Khmer Rouge regime. In some of the stories, the protagonists are LBGTQ; while it was a bit much for this reader to process the immigrant experience along with a the unique aspect of belonging to a queer Cambodian American sub-culture, there’s no doubt this young writer had a great future ahead of him. Unfortunately, the author passed away in December 2020 from an accidental overdose and we’ll never have the opportunity to see what the future held in store for him.

A lovely collection by an enormously gifted young writer whose recent death makes this even less palatable because we're unlikely to see a novel from So in the future. Nevertheless, we must celebrate the beauty, humor and otherness that pervades the stories here -- both queer and immigrant tales, all striking with So's humor constantly raising the material to another level. How lucky we are to have this stunning collection of stories.

It's deeply ironic that I first encountered the work of Anthony Veasna So in an essay about Pavement, because his untimely demise has a very nineties feel. Like Mother Love Bone frontman Andy Wood, who died of a drug overdose right before the release of his band's major label debut, So passed last year before he could get the praise he was justly due. Afterparties is a wickedly funny collection that centers around his experience growing up in the Cambodian American community in Stockton; characters are richly drawn and even the most absurd are portrayed with sympathy. A stunning debut that should have launched a decorated career.

This book is a collection of connected stories about a group of Cambodian genocide survivors and their families, set in Stockton, California. Characters and businesses introduced in one story also appear in other stories. This made the stories feel so real to me, that they felt autobiographical rather than fiction. I enjoyed reading about these people and their food and traditions.

The narrators are from all three generations - the survivors, their adult children, and their grandchildren. Each generation has its own set of concerns. The elders' interests are their children, grandchildren, marriages, and their Buddhist religion, including the reincarnation of relatives into babies born into their families. The middle generation is trying to make a living, some are dealing with divorce, and worrying about both their children and their parents. The teenagers/twenty-somethings are occupied with dating, worrying about college and their futures, all against the background of their rundown neighborhood and their parents' and grandparents' anxiety. I liked that there were LGBTQ characters also.

There are eight connected stories in this book. While every story was better than good, standouts for me were The Three Women of Chuck's Donuts (mother and daughters working nights), Superking Son Scores Again (glory days and badminton), We Would've Been Princes (wedding), Generational Differences (school shooting), and Somaly Serey, Serey Somaly (nursing home and reincarnation). I can't praise this story collection enough.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher and Netgalley and was not required to write a positive review. These are my own opinions of this book.

Anthony Veasna So left us too soon. At just 28 years old, this trailblazing talent passed away last year.
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His debut collection of short stories explores the Cambodian American community, a group that is underrepresented in fiction. His characters grapple with the aftereffects, the transgenerational trauma, that has resulted from the Khmer Rouge genocide, though So often portrays these dark stories with humor. Many of the characters are queer, reflecting So’s own identity.
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One of my favorite aspects of short story collections is when the stories start to intersect. In this book, we zoom in on different characters, taking them from the background in some chapters to the foreground in their own chapter.
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Memorable quotes

"Tevy wonders if her mother has ever loved someone romantically, if her mother is even capable of reaching beyond the realm of survival, if her mother has ever been granted any freedom from worry, and if her mother's present carries the ability to dilate, for even a brief moment, into its own plane of suspended existence, separate from past or future."

"Gay, Cambodian, and not even twenty-six, carrying in my body the aftermath of war, genocide, colonialism. And yet, my task was to teach kids a decade younger, existing across an oceanic difference, what it means to be human. How absurd, I admitted. How fucking hilarious. I was actually excited."
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Afterparties comes out on August 3rd, and I highly recommend this innovative, imaginative collection. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

As much as I was excited for this book, it just felt boring. It had the potential to be an amazing but the writing was just lacking something I can’t quite put my finger on.

This was excellent! We Would've Been Princes! and The Shop are standouts. So has a distinct style which carries through each of the stories, but each one has unique aspects. Lots of heart and humor.

Afterparties is a gorgeous collection of short stories from debut author Anthony Veasna So who unfortunately passed away in late 2020. They feel simultaneously like a good friend laying out a story at brunch & the simultaneous reverence/irreverence and understated power of a new classic. Addiction, belonging, generational trauma, poverty, queerness, religion and class straddling are intersect throughout the narratives. My favorites were Chuck’s Donuts, The Shop & The Monks. Characters in this tight-knit community circle back through different stories, sometimes clearly, others you could blink and miss. I’m heartbroken we won’t get to see the novel due out in a couple years.

🇰🇭 Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So 📚 ⁣
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This is a beautiful collection of short stories haunted not only by the author’s untimely and early death, but by the ghosts of his people and culture. I learned so much in reading these stories about things I never knew about, about people and tragedies that have lasting effects on so many. ⁣
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In this world that So has created, we meet colorful and vivid characters dealing with generational guilt and trauma along with the everyday life in modern America. There are stories that will make you laugh, others that will make you cry, and many that will do both. ⁣
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Favorites: “Superking Son Scores Again,” “The Shop,” “We Would’ve Been Princes,” and “Generational Differences”⁣
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This book is HEAVY. It’s not a light read. It makes you feel and think. You have to take your time with it. You’ll be glad you did. Thank you @netgalley and @eccobooks for the ARC. ⁣
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I don’t want to focus on what could have been for So, or his early death. I want to focus on the work and I have to say this is good work. Craft, style, characterization, mood, and tone—all at play here in the best ways. This collection asks a lot from you, but gives so much in return. ⁣
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📖 #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksta #books #bookish #readwithme #booksofinsta #booksofig #instabooks #bookclub #Afterparties #AnthonyVeasnaSo #Shortstories #CambodianAmericanStories #AugustReads #2021Reads #readersofinstagram #readersofinsta #readersofig #readers #reading #bookrecommendations #booksonbooksonbooks #bookshelf #bookchallenge #bookworm #booknerd #guysreadtoo 📖

Afterparties is a debut collection of short stories from Cambodian-American author Anthony Veasna So highlighting life in the Cambodian diaspora communities of Central California. Each story is like a song that effortlessly balances major and minor keys wrapping the melancholies of generational trauma and immigrant life with comedic anecdotes. The collection opens with the previously published and highly praised story “Three Women of Chuck's Donuts” which has all the vibes of a dark comedy and a character-driven family drama. Though Anthony Veasna So unexpectedly passed away during the final editing stages of this collection, he leaves behind glimpses of life drawn from his experiences as a first-generation Cambodian-American and those of his older family members who had survived the Khmer Rouge genocide. We are fortunate to have the experiences and spaces that are shared in the brilliance of Afterparties. Afterparties is a strong collection bringing queer voices and Cambodian immigrant experiences to the forefront with all the highs and lows that life brings. Fans of collections like Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor and Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat may enjoy the perspectives and flow of Afterparties.

I first want to thank Netgalley and ECCO for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I like this book as it comprises several short stories that weaved together nicely, although they are all very different. In all the stories, you can hear the stories of different Cambodian-Americans trying to navigate being Cambodian and having head stories of the Khmer Rouge (a genocide) their whole life and trying to make their place here in America. You can hear their struggles of identity in a culture very profoundly in this book.

I dated a Cambodian-American guy for over a year, and A LOT of the themes and topics that were talked about in this book saw while dating him. We are no longer together, but I remember learning so much about Buddhism and Cambodian culture while we were dating, which is all very prevalent in this book. Now I am not saying that because I think I'm an expert on this topic... I AM NOT AT ALL, but I wanted to point out that I saw themes in this book as very relevant in my real life.

I also really enjoyed this book as Cambodian-American culture isn't often written about or learned about in general. Thus, having a book that explores this is amazing and introduces people to a whole new group of people. Overall, I think this is a must-read for anyone who wants to expand their thinking and knowledge of cultures different from their own.

“This book is a love letter to you, to everyone I mentioned, to Stockton, to California, to my Khmer and Khmer American universe, and to the generations lost and living and upcoming.”

Happy publication day to AFTERPARTIES & thank you @netgalley and @eccobooks for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

My take: So is no longer with us, but his presence reverberates throughout the nine stories contained in this debut novel. A PSA to read the acknowledgments when you’re done.

While each of the stories possess a unique plotline, the stories in AFTERPARTIES are interconnected, sharing: (1) characters modeled after the lived experiences of So, his family members, and the members of his larger Cambodian-American community; and (2) the themes of intergenerational trauma and identity.

“What does it mean to be Khmer, anyway? How does one know what is and is not Khmer? Have most Khmer people always known, deep down that they’re Khmer? Are there feelings Khmer people experience that others don’t?”

This is the question explored by the host of characters appearing in AFTERPARTIES, with the spotlight shone on the children of the Cambodian diaspora, born to survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide.

While So’s voice is distinctive, reading AFTERPARTIES made me reminiscent of the unapologetic tone of Bryan Washington in MEMORIAL, which we desperately need more of in the literary world.

In short, you can expect the stories in AFTERPARTIES to be emotional (albeit in their own unconventional way), yet bursting with chaotic energy - a mix of angst and dark humor - I’d say this is a combination which can only be executed by So.

Read this with “Cambodian Donut Shops and the Negotiation of Identity in Los Angeles,” by Erin M. Curtis in EATING ASIAN AMERICA (edited by Robert Ji-Song Ku, Martin F. Manalansan and Anita Mannur)

Donuts (and durians) have a recurring appearance in AFTERPARTIES - and this chapter of EATING ASIAN AMERICA enhanced my reading experience, explaining how donuts became linked to Cambodian refugees in twentieth-century Los Angeles.

There are many notable stories contained in AFTERPARTIES. However, the five-star story for me was the last story, “Generational Differences,” based off the life of So’s mother. “Generational Differences” is the story about a child learning about - and coming to terms with - the fact that his mother (a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide) survived a school shooting. I found this story incredibly touching because, yes, as the title gives away, it’s a story about the generational differences between mother and son - and the fact that it was told from the mother’s perspective in the form of a letter penned to her son made it particularly memorable.

Wow. One of the best short story collection I’ve ever read. I don’t know how the author was able to craft these beautiful stories while giving us a peek at some of the same characters within different stories. Describing generational trauma of Cambodian refugees who fled their country in the face of the Khmer Rouge’s genocide of the people, the author beautifully crafted characters who are complex and rich in dimension. Gorgeous. I looked up the author midway through the book wanting to know what he was working on next so that I could preorder - my heart fell when I read that he had died in December of 2020. What a tremendous loss. Heartfelt thanks to Ecco for the copy of this book. I’m grateful.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ecco for an advance copy of this book. (I loved it so much I've ordered the hardcover to keep!)

So's voice is so fresh and so specific. It was enthralling to spend these pages with the children of Cambodian refugees in Stockton, CA. The whole collection crackles -- what can't So do?? A book of perfectly-executed short stories, a master class in the form. He winds these stories up so perfectly, it adds a whole meta level of enjoyment; it was fun to step back every few pages to admire how expertly the stories are constructed, how effortlessly he sets up meaning and consequences for his characters.

Also, several LGBTQ+ characters, (maybe all gay men, now that I think about it?), so much more interesting and nuanced than you often find. If you like short stories or stories about complex cultural identities, you should spend some time with this standout collection.

I read 'Afterparties Stories' by Anthony Veasna So as part of my research for my doctoral dissertation, which examines the history and memory of the Khmer Rouge. In a series of short stories that are told from the perspectives of multiple characters, So interweaves the Cambodian-American experience with the highly complex intergenerational dynamics between those who survived the Khmer Rouge and the successive generations who inherited the trauma of genocide.
It was fascinating to see how each character’s unique confrontation with identity converged with the intergenerational tensions and harmonies that resulted from the shared desire to protect and heal. So's rare ability to convey deep understanding and empathy for the perspectives and challenges of each generation are demonstrated in his unique narrative constructs and the way he lovingly crafts all his characters.
'Afterparties Stories' is beautifully written and is at once thought-provoking, sad, humorous, and hopeful, and ultimately made heartbreaking knowing that Anthony Veasna So is no longer with us. I sat down to read it and couldn't put it down. Although it's a book that you can finish in a day, Afterparties will resonate with you long after you finish reading it.

Well-written, intriguing, and deeply human story collection. A beautiful debut that gives readers a window into a world they may not have understood before. Highly recommended.

Real Rating: 4.5* of five, rounded up out of sheer misery that this is all we're going to get of the man's wonderful work

The death by accidental overdose, at age 28, of Author Anthony Veasna So means this collection will have to serve us for a long time. The loss, I know you're unsurprised to hear me say, is going to alter our national literary conversation. Author So wrote these stories, and a handful of essays in prestigious venues like n+1 Magazine, all seemingly intent on exploring something I think he was beautifully placed...first-generation American, talented beyond the ordinary, and further outsidered by his queerness...and perfectly suited by temperament to render his own: Dreaming your way into a world too brutal to survive. These stories are satisfying in many ways, and not least among them is the author's simple, direct, conversational style. Try this: read any first paragraph out loud. Don't act, speak; they are all beautifully built for the rhythms of twenty-first century American speech. And that is why I will mourn Author So's early exit. I think we would've found many corners to turn and potholes to fill if he still walked among us. That makes me feel sad.

As is reasonable and customary at this blog, the Bryce Method of short, separate impressions and distinct individual ratings for the stories will organize my thoughts and feelings while hopefully allowing you to reach your own conclusions. As there are so many thoughts, you'll need to look at them there. But I'll be amazed and disappointed if you don't laugh out loud a lot.