“Truthfully, she was tired of taking the hard way out. Why was ‘sucking it up’ and ‘pushing through to the end’ put on such a high pedestal, anyway? These were the same so-called values that sent PhD students running headfirst into the open arms of antidepressants. For once in her life, she wanted to be selfishly and deliciously lazy. To embody that most abhorred word of her generation: unproductive. She, yes she, wanted to be the person who walks away as a car explodes into flames in the background. This was her chance.”

(Oh, Ingrid. On one hand, how relatable! On the other hand, you poor thing. Why don’t we take a break and go sleep, shall we…)

Disorientation is such a deliciously disorienting novel… it has truly earned its title. Elaine Hsieh Chou has approached the campus satire novel from the inside out, rendering a story that is hilariously and soberingly futile.

The book follows Ingrid Yang, a Confused PhD student in the final year of her program… who may have taken her sleuthing too far, accidentally discovering a truth that, contrary to her hopes, does not make her life any easier. Oh, no. Ingrid, you have not found a golden key to your dissertation, not at all.

That sounds rather ominous because it really is. Disorientation is stunningly ambitious in the number of themes it grapples with, particularly race dynamics and structural inequalities in higher academia.

Confusions, complexities, and convoluted reckonings are what define Disorientation, and I appreciated how Chou opened more and more questions as opposed to reducing her book to certainties for the sake of coherence. This, paired with Chou’s clear writing style, creates a joyfully twisty book. There are no certainties in Disorientation (is there such thing as certainty in life, anyway?) and that is its most endearing quality.

Disorientation releases on March 22nd, and I highly recommend it!

Disorientation is a sharp-witted, scathing satire. Somehow this novel is so silly (and often predictable) while also managing to be a damning critique of numerous heavy-hitting subjects. Elaine Hsieh Chou skewers bias in higher education, elitism, orientalism, white supremacy, right-wing nationalism, and fetishization.

And it's so fun! Though every character is exaggerated for comic effect, they all feel very real and fully fleshed. Ingrid herself is unrealistically naive. By having an overly innocent narrator, though, readers are able to examine harmful prejudices alongside the protagonist. As for the other characters, they are either so deliciously hateable (Stephen & Michael) or heart-warmingly loveable. I especially enjoyed the relationship dynamics between Ingrid and her best friend Eunice. Their hijinks throughout the story are some of the funniest and most entertaining portions of this novel.

If I had to criticize one thing about Disorientation, it would be the length. At a little over 400 pages, the novel occasionally dragged. Several of Ingrid's discoveries likely could have happened in a shorter time frame. However, I still found myself eagerly anticipating what happened next - in spite of the aforementioned drag.

All in all, I really enjoyed Disorientation. Elaine Hsieh Chou is a talented author and satirist. I can't wait to read more of her work in the future!

2.5

Maybe I just don't like satires and didn't realize it until now? Or maybe this one missed the mark? At over 400 pages this became a chore to read - there was just too much happening here. I wondered if this was more geared towards a Netflix show than the lit fic I expected.

A 29 year old in academia (8 years in a PHD program!) who has never heard of any SJ discourse? This worked best for me when we got to explore why Ingrid would not identify with her East Asian heritage (could we just have more of her parents?). Otherwise there was pretty weak character development all around - why did everyone turn into a clown? .

The ending is depressing, but probably because of how true to life it sadly is. I had such high hopes for this one! I will still check out the author's next writing and hope she delves deeper next time.

I really loved this cover and sort of thought it would be akin to Elif Batuman’s The Idiot. Though there were times the satire and humor were enjoyable, it was just too in the world of Academia for me to really follow and enjoy. The writing was also a little chaotic for my attention span. I think there will be plenty of people who love this, just wasn’t for me.

I was underwhelmed by this one - an academic who has been working on her PhD for 8 years but has hardly any research done? The book raised some interesting points about race in contemporary academia but most of the plot and characters were riddled with cliché. This book didn't bring much to the table, and the 400+ page count did not feel justified. Characters made frustrating decisions and were not written with much depth. The conflict was unoriginal and the dialogue was frustrating - I didn't believe that any of the characters would speak like that.
This was difficult for me to get through because of the frustrating characters, boring plot, and lengthy page count.

Elaine Hsieh Chou’s debut novel is a page-turning campus satire following 29-year-old Ingrid Yang. For her doctoral dissertation, the Ph.D. student has been painstakingly researching poet Xiao-Wen Chou, a prominent Chinese American poet known as the Chinese Robert Frost. Yang couldn’t care less about Chou, however, she was persuaded by her academic advisor to study the poet, who at one point taught at her university. But then the discovery of an unexpected note in the archives sends Yang down a winding path that ultimately upends everything in her life. While there are humorous aspects, “Disorientation” explores systemic racism, the Asian-American experience, toxic relationships, and so much more.

Ingrid Yang, our protagonist, is stressed because of her dissertation where she has to investigate everything she can about a really famous Chinese poet, and she sure does find interesting stuff about him.
From there we unravel the absolute chaos this book is, I recommend you to not read the synopsis since it uncovers a lot of the plot, you can choose to be as surprised as I was to be experiencing all of this with Ingrid. This book was full of problems, I think there was barely anything left that wasnt talked about. I was surprised to see people complained about this, but I dont think it was "too much", it's a really specific story yes, but nothing felt overdone.

The author did an amazing job at keeping you engaged, there was a point where something happened every few pages and I just wanted to keep reading to find out some resolution.
One of the most interesting things was Ingrid's POV, I would have expected her to be raging from page , but it was so nice to see her learning about what was going on and "growing into a new person", or just, figuring herself out.
Each one of the side character were incredibly distinctive and captivating, in some way, they were all really complex and had something to add, someone I really enjoyed was Vivian, the complete opposite of Ingrid, who also had some... questionable moments, regardless, it seemed like everyone had an opportunity to grow up, to be better, no one was 100% good/bad and it was nice to see the change throughout the book.
A stunning debut for sure, one read that I would love to experience for the first time again but I think I'll be content by just re-reading it someday.

Also... the epilogue????? cant believe the author gave somehing out even in the last page.

Okay. I have a lot of thoughts.

I want to start off by saying that the title of this book is genius. Disorientation as in Ingrid's life falling apart but then being put back together in such a messy way and also discovering the detriment that Orientalism has had on her life? It's SO good. And I'm obsessed with the cover.

Now, focusing on story. I really loved how this book dissected racism and tokenism in academia. When you begin to read, all of the white characters in the story are presented as innocent, nice, and not aggressors at all. But as Ingrid begins her journey of "disorientation", we begin to see people's true colors as the story unravels. It is a very true testament to real life experiences for people of color when we begin to feel a sickening, creeping feeling that this white person is not our friend. Chou peels back these character's layers slowly yet abruptly, almost slapping us in the face with the truth.

I thought that the way Chou showed the fetishization of Asian women was clever and nuanced. I genuinely thought that Ingrid was going to find tons of NSFW content on Stephen's computer but to find that all of his previous exes were Asian was a really great way of showing that just dating a certain race when you're a white person is a fetishizing and degrading.

All this being said, the tone genuinely was giving me a bit of whiplash. But the biggest problem I had was with Ingrid and the way this story was written. The writing felt very juvenile. And I can't tell if this fit the book or not. I understand that Ingrid is not supposed to act her age, she's immature and in need of a lot of growing. But I found myself genuinely forgetting that she was a 30 year old woman and that she wasn't in high school. Also, how is she in her eighth year of her PhD and not aware of the fetishization of Asian women, of tokenism, of literal gay people? It was really hard to believe and it made her a really frustrating character. I feel like this could've been fixed by having it be her first year of college, where the realization of these things would make a lot more sense. Also, I wish Eunice was a more developed three-dimensional character.

Overall, I thought this was a HILARIOUS read and I was laughing out loud at so many parts. I could genuinely see this as a really great NBC or Hulu miniseries. I'm really excited to see what Chou writes in the future.

I loved the vast array of Asian-American personalities that were highlighted in this book. The portrayal of Asian-American culture seemed very authentic, not leaning on stereotypes or relegating Asian people to the supporting cast. I really enjoyed the writing style and the pacing of the book.

The story is based on a mystery, but not one that was suspenseful or particularly important. The plot itself is quite whimsical but intriguing, and I was curious to see how the story would resolve itself. There is quite a bit of commentary on cultural appropriation and fetishization. It's done in an elegant manner, espousing many valid points from an Asian American perspective, and it leaves the reader with many ideas to mull over. The satirical nature emphasizes the lengths to which people often believe in their own worldviews, without much concern about what others may be experiencing.

A satirical look at the intersection of Academia and racism. This was definitely informational to me as I am outsider to academia. It highlighted the rigors of the Ph.D. track while also discussing inherent biases and identity struggles.

Ingrid Yang is in her 8th year as a doctoral student and her dissertation topic is no longer interesting enough for her to want to continue working on it. Her dissertation topic was basically thrust upon her by her advisor, and as an engaged student wanting to always please, she accepted the suggested topic of Chinese poet Xio-Wen Chou. Although she initially seemed to enjoy it, the farther she gets into her research, the more she feels disconnected from the subject.

Enter a mysterious note and she now has a project to distract her focus from her dissertation and disdain. She drags her best friend E_____ along as she follows clues that lead her down a rabbit hole that seems to be getting her nowhere. The banter between she and her friend is witty and relatable. Many of the situations they find themselves in are outlandish and funny. Her discovery is shocking and has the ability to take everything she has known and throw it on its head. Now she must decide if and how she will use that information. Enter several interesting and complex secondary characters. Her advisor, her boyfriend, her best friend's brother and her academia nemesis. The story started off strong, but towards the middle of the book, the story seemed a little all over the place. I liked the ending though (save for one piece), and thought it brought the story back around.

What I liked most about this story, was the commentary on the main character's struggle with her Asian identity. As a young girl growing up in California, she rejected all Asian influences. Around the last third of the book she questions her resistance, and finally sees all that she is leaving behind by rejecting her heritage. There is a lot more to this book, but any more information I share would give away too much of the plot. The look inside racism surrounding the Asian culture was powerful and upsetting. I cringed at the many ways that words alone were used to demoralize and tear down self esteem.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for an advance copy to read and review.

This book is a wild ride! Perhaps more so because I didn’t know too much going into it - and I strongly urge other readers to do the same. Reading the official synopsis after I finished the book, it gives entirely too much away.

My completely non-spoliery synopsis: Ingrid Yang is in her 7th year of her PhD program struggling to find anything original to say about a premiere Chinese American poet for her dissertation when a note in the archive sends her on an unexpected journey of self-discovery and total chaos. It tackles identity politics, cultural appropriation, white liberalism, academia and the intersection of race and desire.

I’m not usually a fan of satirical books, but the propulsive force of this novel was enough to push me past my usual preferences. There is a lot going on in this book and I was entertained and provoked to thought (is that a phrase? It should be) throughout.

In conclusion, don’t read what it's about, just read it.

This book was incredible. Both a biting satire of academia and a nuanced critique of anti Asian racism and the college experience, this novel also succeeds in creating and portraying grounded and funny characters who you genuinely love by the end of the book.
Ingrid is coming to the end of her PhD on the "father of Chinese-American literature" but far from feeling connected to her subject matter, she can't quite connect to it like her (white) thesis advisor assumed she would. In her search to find meaning in her studies, Ingrid uncovers an explosive truth about her subject Xiao-Wen Chou, something that will change the East Asian studies department forever. But what should she do with it?
This book tackles many topics in one hugely compelling narrative. It has a lot to say about racism, academia, popular culture, fetishism, social justice and personal relationships with identity but also has a page turning plot that, in fairness, goes over the top at points. As far as I'm concerned it's the full package. I found Ingrid to be a warm and compelling protagonist and the cast of background characters were not only symbolically efficient but hugely nuanced and complex in their own right. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to everyone. I'm so glad I got an ARC of it.

What a delightful read - this story went above and beyond my expectations to speak to race, academia, relationships, and so much more. Disorientation as a debut novel is a powerhouse and I look forward to reading more from Chou.

Probably closer to 3.5. As someone in graduate school and dealing with academia, I felt this book so much. However, the "mystery" at the center of the story felt a bit hoky and I found myself skimming more than engaging for large sections of the book. There is great humor in some of it and when the writing landed, it landed well.

This is one of those books you need to suffer through for a minute until it gets interesting. For the first 25% 9f the book I found the main character entirely insufferable. She was equal parts self pitying and self important, and seemed to be a deliberately derogatory caricature of a burnt out university student. At 26% she went through a very sudden but not unwelcome personality shift that allowed me to get immersed in the mystery of the rest of the book.
Overall, the plot was okay but I would have liked it more from Vivian's point of view.

Perfect title! Many thought-provoking subjects with the overarching theme being racism. At first the book seems too long for the plot line, but as more subplots are introduced, we understand the need for the length.. Still, it’s a very erratic story which I couldn’t wait to finish. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I absolutely loved this book. Holy smokes! There's been so many great debut novels the last few years, and this is one of them. I fell in love with Elaine Hsieh Chou's writing style from the opening page. If you like quirky writing and characters, then you'll devour this! Ingrid was such a relatable and neurotic character. She's the kind of character you root for and want to see succeed. I loved her kooky mind and empathetic heart. This book deals with some heavy topics like racism, sexism, painful stereotypes of Asian culture, and an obsession with perfection. I don't think there's anything I didn't like about this book. It was such a hoot! "Disorientation" has so many layers to it. This is one of the most well-rounded novels I've read in quite some time. I like how all the characters come full circle at the end. This is the kind of story that is going to stay with me. Amazing!

Thank you, Netgalley and Penguin Press for the digital ARC.

I enjoyed three quarters of this book, then it started to get crazy for me. Nonetheless, I couldn’t stop reading because the end of this story was so unpredictable. It was nice to be surprised. However, as I continued to read, I wasn’t sure whether to feel sympathy, angst, or pride for Ingrid. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advance copy of this book.

Oh, I desperately hope that Elaine Hsieh Chou plans on writing for a long, long time. I will read everything this author publishes, I swear! Disorientation is hilariously sardonic, brutally honest, intricately plotted, beautifully paced--this book has it all. This is a masterpiece of literary fiction. Heavy topics are tangoed with, yet the laughable, relatable nature of the main character--Ingrid Yang--keeps the novel from turning dour. Being able to slip so easily into Ingrid's shoes gives the reader perspective and ample food for thought throughout the story. Serious and silly find a perfect balance in this narrative (though sometimes reality is hard to face once the veneer of OTC allergy-pill abuse is pulled away).

I capital-ell-Loved Disorientation and have high hopes for Chou--er, Elaine's, that is--future!

Twenty-nine year old Ingrid Yang has been painstakingly researching poet Xiao-Wen Chou, a prominent Chinese American poet known as the Chinese Robert Frost, for her doctoral dissertation. Ingrid is dissatisfied that she’s been tasked with writing about someone who has already been so broadly studied. Her funding is running out and Chou as a subject has fallen out of fashion. But when Ingrid discovers a note in the Chou archives at the library, she’s led on a path which makes her realize the beloved poet was not who he said he was. Soon, Ingrid is on a collision course with uncovering the truth, which means reckoning with white supremacy, institutional bias and academic competition. This is a book for fans of books that take place in academic settings; readers who like to analyze and dissect what really lies at the heart of “higher education.” I Absolutely love the writing on a sentence level in this novel. It’s beautiful, deliberate, and clever. Thank you to The Penguin Group and NetGalley for the advanced review copy.