I was very excited to read this novel but ultimately disappointed. The characters seemed like caricatures and the prose was too simplistic for my taste. I never pictured Ingrid as a serious and thoughtful student, an assessment she might even agree with herself. I had to ask, however, why was she even in this doctoral program? She appears to have no interest in its essence or value, only in its ability to provide her a tenured faculty position if she is successful.

Ingrid's interest in 'the note' took on a life of its own. She needed a catalyst of some sort to keep going and a mystery or puzzle was just right. My idea of a serious doctoral student is someone about the same age as Ingrid but with a lot more intellectual and emotional maturity than she displayed.

I am very familiar with academia and appreciate the satire and farcical nature of this book. However, the story was told in too many generalizations and did not hit a hard punch. Two novels about academia I really like are 'Moo' by Jane Smiley and 'Campusland' by Scott Johnston. 'Disorientation' does not come up to their level.

// Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin who kindly provided me with this ARC //

29- year old PhD student Ingrid Yang is working on her dissertation on Xiao-Wen Chou; a poet she couldn’t care less about but was persuaded to study by her academic advisor. Her entire career long predetermined by racial, sexist bias and stereotyping, she slowly begins to question her sanity— and upon discovering a fateful note the credibility of her dissertation’s very object. 

This was such a captivating read, I couldn’t put it down! Being an undergrad, I really liked the university setting and appreciated the protagonist's struggles of navigating the academic environment. The book does a good job commenting critically on elitism and racism within academia and the perceived pointlessness of living for a deadline. In its center, this is a story about cultural identity. The book touches on a number of different important topics such as fetishization, gaslighting and yellow face, and it does so without seeming too heavy or appearing to tackle too much at the same time. I really enjoyed the humor employed, it was in just the right tone for this book. We follow along to see Ingrid’s personal development, as well as her at times funny attempts to uncover her university’s well-kept secrets. Overall, a very enjoyable reading experience!!! If you enjoy reading very character focused adult books, this one is definitely worth giving a go. 
On another note, the title is genius. It does not only reflect Ingrid’s struggles of navigating adult life, but it also deconstructs the very racist and western concept of Orientalism, which is responsible for how we view Asian countries and the Middle East from a western perspective. At least that was my interpretation (maybe I am reading too much into this?).

Best satire I've read in years!
Ingrid is riddled with anxiety and self doubt. All her life as a Taiwanese American she’s wanted to fit in. Be ‘normal’. And in her mind that meant rejecting or making fun of her Asian heritage.

When she uncovers the truth about a Chinese American poet who is the focus of her doctorate and all the deeper implications , she questions everything.

I still have the occasional stress dream about writing my dissertation on time, so I was hooked on Disorientation’s premise from the get-go. Choi’s protagonist, Ingrid, is stuck: on her dissertation about a poet she never wanted to study to begin with, in her relationship with her boring fiancé, and in her small, quiet life in general. A chance discovery in the archives sends her down a winding path that will ultimately upend everything in her world.

I struggled with this book a little at first. The humor was overly broad and the characters were weirdly flat, almost more like comic ciphers than real people. However, as I persevered I realized that this novel is squarely in the satirical campus novel subgenre, alongside David Lodge and Richard Russo. And unlike those aforementioned novels which often focus on the lives of white men and heavily feature nubile young women who are overly naïve, this novel shifts the focus entirely. Ingrid is the main character of this novel and the satire is focused squarely on the deeply unfair social mores of academia which exclude people of color, especially women of color. I approached this book as a coming of age novel and as such it didn’t work for me. But as a darkly humorous academic satire, I think it works very well. Chou has plenty to say about her subject, and the ending left me unsettled.

Thanks to Penguin and Netgalley for the advance copy.

This book was something else! I know I originally read some of the synopsis before choosing this book, but by the time I read it, I was mostly blind. That being said, I really enjoyed this story!

Ingrid Yang had a lot going on, and I mean A LOT. Being an Asian American, in her eighth year of academia, working on her dissertation on a subject she could not care less about, dating a white man who is constantly gaslighting and manipulating her, dealing with racism...so much.

There were times it felt like a hot mess but I could not, for the life of me, put it down! I had to trudge through a lot of heavy academic vocabulary and all the satire that went completely over my head, but I HAD to know what was going to happen next!

Ingrid, as a character, was pretty insufferable. Maybe proof that no matter how much higher education a person has, doesn't make them intelligent? Because my God, was she stupid! Vivian was probably the most complex character, next to Eunice and Alex, who I mostly enjoyed.

Overall, it was written well and it touched on a lot of good topics, was an enjoyable plot, I just thought it could've done without 100 or so of the pages.

A fantastic debut novel for author, Elaine Hsieh Chou. A satire of academia that is, at times, laugh out loud funny while really smartly exploring the Asian American experience in academic settings. Like many debut books, this one grapples with doing a little too much but I really look forward to what comes next for Chou. I would recommend to fans of Black Buck, The Sellout, and the show Dear white People.

This novel was a wild ride, but not one I'm sure came together very well in the end. As satire about academia and the internalized racism therein, I didn't feel that Ingrid as a main character truly fit at all. Although her journey to discovering her own internalized racism and emotionally abusive relationship rang true, it would have been more believable had she ever engaged with any critical race theory at all. I find it strange that she spent so long researching (though we know she was not particularly adept) a "Chinese-American" poet and never once was faced with thoughts about yellow face or Asian stereotypes, etc. I wish she had at least been aware of the wider implications of these things before going on the journey to discovering their presence in her own life. The plot with Xiao-Wen Chou was slightly too surreal for my tastes, too, and the whole thing went on far too long to sustain the sort of dreamy, druggy, "this is messed up" MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION vibes that I think the author may have been reaching for. I'm glad I read this, but I'm not sure I was the right audience for it.

Eighth year Ph.D. candidate Ingrid Yang is begrudgingly writing her dissertation on the late famous Chinese American poet Xiao-Wen Chou when she discovers something alarming about his past. An academic scandal begins to emerge as Ingrid and her best friend Eunice go deeper into the mystery, resulting in both absurdist comedy and a serious examination of Ingrid's relationship to predominantly white institutions and white men. In this much-anticipated novel, debut author Elaine Hsieh Chou crafts an effective satire of pervasive whiteness on a college campus. "Disorientation" particularly shines with its hilarious and memorable cast of characters, who possess a variety of Asian American nationalities and experiences.

As an Asian American female, I have to say that I enjoyed this novel immensely, but can see how it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea - Chou's writing is fiercely satirical, bordering on ridiculous and absurd at times - but the number of pressing issues that she manages to cover in "Disorientation" is eye-opening.

The novel is told from the perspective of 29 year-old Ingrid Yang. She's a Taiwanese-American PhD student in Barnes University who's been persuaded (pushed?) into writing her dissertation on Xiao-Wen Chou, the late Chinese-American poet who taught at her school. Her research leads her to an unexpected note in her school's archives, and sets off a number of events that completely changes Ingrid's life. We get to know her as a child and her attempts to completely disown her Taiwanese culture, to her present situation including her relationship with her Japanophile fiance, her friendship with Korean-American Eunice Kim, and her rivalry with fellow student Vivian Vo.

There's some heavy subject matter that Chou brings up that is lessened with the sheer sarcasm and absurdity - from the use of "yellow-face" and cultural appropriation; the fine line between obsession and appreciation; gender norms and stereotypes in the context of race; and following the status quo versus forging one's own path. As a Chinese American, many of of these hit home for me, but they may not have the same impact on others without the racial and gender context. For those that loved "Interior Chinatown" however, "Disorientation" is a must-read, and highlights the difficulties of growing up Asian American from the female perspective.

This book is SO BONKERS. But in the best way possible. I find it hard to believe that Elaine Hsieh Chou is a debut author, just because of how genius this book is. This book is satire at its finest. She takes the sad and quiet Asian woman trope that I've seen in a lot of recent novels and turns it completely inside out. All of the characters in this story are tropes of some sort. While they don't know it and live life with utmost seriousness, you as the reader can tell just wacky their storylines are. Despite this, the characters feel more alive than so many other Asian stories I've read as of late. They each have their moments of growth that seem natural, and because you get to go into the main character's head, you also get to see that her thoughts aren't always as meek as she seems. She's a lot more unhinged than she lets on. I love love love how unhinged this book is and if you're tired of sad Asian American stories, this book is for you.

Disorientation follows our main character Ingrid Yang. Ingrid is a Taiwanese American woman working on her dissertation while getting her PHD in an East Asian program of study. She solves a mystery regarding the author she is researching and chaos ensues. It is a satire on the ivory tower that is higher education here in America.

I enjoyed how well fleshed out the characters were. They felt like real people. There is a diverse cast of characters in this novel. There is strong character development, both positive and negative depending on the characters.
An interesting character trait that was explored in this novel was the fetishizing of Asian women by white men and the Americanization of Asian women.

The plot twist was intriguing. There were a few red herrings thrown in around the time that the twist was coming up that kept you guessing.

There is a lot of humor in this novel that I appreciated.

Along with exploring systemic racism and racism in academia this novel also explores academic pressure, anxiety, and toxic relationships (as evidenced by major gaslighting that made me want to punch one or more men in the face.)

Overall I really enjoyed the journey that this book took me on and the important points that it brought up while inserting humor.

Link to video review: https://youtu.be/9qDBMYpgQ1o

A wonderfully raucous, perfectly satirical exploration of racism in academia, featuring a messy and lovable young woman trying to make sense of her life while undergoing a political awakening. Part mystery, part coming-of-age, part satire, this wild ride of a novel had so many twists and turns, each more delightful than the last. Perfectly pitched to become a TV adaptation, a la "The Chair" on Netflix.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Press for the ARC! I will be featuring this on my TikTok: @alistofreads

From the first page, this is a visceral, immersive read with talk of anxiety rashes and poetry falling out of vaginas. Props to the writer for turning a story about stressing over a phD dissertation into something fun in an originally and hilariously gross way. The tone always flirts with an ironic markup of coddled academics, the know-it-all know-nothings after marble houses and unquestionable authority. Lots of subtlety clever lines like a foliage-forward “quad designed to discourage protests.”

Her relationships are hot and cold but held w/ amusement whether from soy-boyfriends, pornstar-looking phD candidates, psycho smoothie-and-kinky-sex-loving exes, or rivals reminiscent of the ultra chic cousins from My Life As A Teenage Robot. Chronically nervous from a career/study she was swept up in, she’s addicted to TUMs, delightfully paranoid of fun-makers but not w/o warrant. Someone is teasing her with clues to bigger findings in the library archives.

A fourth in, we get our first big twist and though I’m able to excuse every other oddity as satire, there is next to no pushback or hardly evidence to back the claim the MC makes, so how can she be so sure what she saw in one second? Just needed a little padding. Her partner in crime is eccentric, but that’s still pushing it for her to be totally on board, no questions asked at 1AM from the dead of sleep. At least her bro Alex has some (memorable fashion) sense. Soon, we get another crazy twist—which she determines she must have hallucinated and won’t tell her bestie, which seems totally unrealistic (She could just say, “hey, I thought I saw that but must have been mistaken,” but no). Very TV drama behavior, but whatever. I’ll chalk this up to a Creamerie-level comedy.

It is rather unclear why time jumps so much and the MC so resentful of her partner’s sudden success. Of course it could be explained away with jealousy, his lack of actual knowledge, her resentment for his subject matter, her preoccupation with her work/discoveries., but the scene seems intentional to make Ingrid look like a mean drunk. But why now, why this way?

The explanation is too brusque and leaves too much out of the equation: She hasn’t told her BF a /thing/, let alone the end of her discoveries totally irrelevant to him, his job, etc. Come to think of it, I extra don’t get her conclusions. Why does she assume she has the right man? That that means someone isn’t dead or never existed? That the guy’s even pretending to be who she thinks he is? Who would even have faith that who they saw from so afar in the dark of a non descript fashion was anyone, let alone someone they have a para-social relationship w/ at best?

Soon, Michael also does an unlikeable, cartoonish 180 in behavior. The first third of the book seemed more realistic, teetering between subtle social commentary and deliberately overdone satire. Now, it feels cheapened. Things get better soon, but it’s still aggravatiny textbook the MC never tells anybody anything even when they’d believe her more than herself.

The biggest meeting in the book was done well. As usual, we get a mishmash of opinions and POVs that raise truly thoughtful moral dilemmas and unexpected sympathy.

I just absolutely abhor what happened to the Michael character—he’s basically two characters in one that just do not fit. There should have been a different character who turned into what he would because he had no transition period, it just comes off as whack-a-doo and rather lazy. It makes zero sense he would be so awarded the way he was in the “woke” times we live for the scandal(s) he’s part of in academia—the most unforgiving, anti-“offensive” field there is. Sure, he could be very successful on TV, podcasts, etc. but not in PC central. At least we get some fun twists with him, though he brings out the most half-baked, meandering musings in the MC, who also took on way too many of her “enemy” Vivian’s (which, where the heck did she go for most of the book? And when she reappears, everybody mostly acts like nothing happened) opinions while having spent little time with her and never truly learned what the vocabulary means. This definitely waters down any potential “profound” takeaway we were supposed to have.

Though we knew it from the get-go, our MC has very few opinions of her own. She’s an anxious sponge. She swung political opinions by the end and learned some more about her love life, but she still does not know herself—the most confounding, grossly volatile trait a real life person can have, especially in their 30s, which makes too many of her detractors seem justified like her boyfriend (hopelessly annoying yet she outdoes him by leagues as a truly selfish creep of a person!) she pushes away and belittles to no end based on sudden, relentless conjecture.

She just latches to other extremes and personalities, when I’m sure moderation would suit anybody better. She never accepts any personal responsibility, whether it’s her blaming whole races for things she did or her inability to apologize to people she’s egregiously wronged.

This book was juggling so many themes and did most of them well and from many angles while maintaining humor, so I have to give it credit. Let me just say the last few pages of the book will leave you with a WTF face. It’s not that the story’s incomplete, but positively insane and not exactly in a good way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group The Penguin Press for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a breath of fresh air, a punch in the gut, and a constant whiplash between ideals and situations that keep you hooked from the very beginning.

Disorientation is a campus satire novel. Personally, I didn’t quite know what that actually meant until I started reading (when it comes to satire, I’d previously really only read short stories and articles or watched short videos, nothing nearing a full-on novel). The satire hits you straight in the face immediately, and the hits don’t stop coming. Chou masterfully weaves together a story about, among other things, white liberalism, the model minority myth, systemic racism and complicity, all set intentionally in the ivory towers of higher education.

At times hilarious, at other times disquieting, Disorientation follows 29-year-old Ingrid Yang in the last year of her Ph.D. program as she attempts to finish her dissertation on Xiao-Wen Chou, the foremost late Asian American poet. She’s disheveled, a bit run-down, and on the edge of losing all motivation and direction as she struggles to finish her research. Out of sheer desperation, she follows a bread crumb and winds up uncovering a ginormous secret that changes the very face of everything she knows and believes.

Ingrid is one of the most frustrating protagonists I have ever read, and that is entirely by design. In spite of that, it is fascinating to follow her on her internal and external journey of unlearning white supremacy and unraveling her own complicated feelings and experiences surrounding her identity (and how her identity is constantly perceived by a white world). I don’t think I’ve ever read a fiction book that so readily presents and breaks down the reality of Asian American complicity in white supremacy, and how buying into the model minority myth is harmful at a personal and systemic level. This is a book about institutional power, who has it, who doesn’t, how it’s gatekept, and how the illusion of power is not at all comparable to the real thing.

Many of the characters feel a bit surface level, or like caricatures of the type of people they represent. Chou exaggerates the features and ideals of each of the main players in the novel to convey her biting commentary, but it doesn’t stop you from getting invested in characters (or conversely, hating them with all your heart). At times overly obvious, Ingrid and her gang hold our hands to the ideological conclusion, while also not shying away from hard questions and the nuances that come with them.

4.75/5 woooo

tysm to netgalley and penguin press for this advanced copy, i truly had a fun time.

ok, this was a book i couldn’t put down. it felt incredibly familiar, like oberlin college in 2012, grappling with race and academia and power and poetry. if you’re into the campus novel and also satire, this is for you.

probably the reality is that i would give this 3.5 for quality of prose (there are some truly bonkers lines of dialogue) but because i found the main character so compelling in her degree of self sabotage, i bumped it up. plus it made me laff laff laff.

i think if this had come out while i was in college, i would’ve enjoyed more.

Oof!! I don’t know if it’s the burnt out academic in me or what, but this novel got me good. Ingrid Yang is a PhD student trying to wrap up her dissertation in her eighth year (iykyk), when she comes across this bizarre note that leads her into what gradually becomes an unraveling of everything she thought was true about the academy. I think, in my experience, if you’re not the majority in academia, this journey may definitely be in the realm of satire, but there is an undercurrent that rings true. There were lines in the novel where I know…I KNOW it was meant to be satire, but the way people have said those same things to me in real life, sans irony, sans any level of joking is just…close to home. Two words: Ingrid’s fiance. Scream. I think some folks may read Ingrid as naive or acting young for 29, but, having worked in higher education for ~5 years…there’s a truth to her disbelief / naivety as the events of the story unfold. When you’re that focused on your diss topic, some things can fall to the wayside as a result.

The novel is about the size of a dissertation, 400-ish pages, but they will speed by. If you’ve ever felt the disbelonging or disillusionment with the academic world, this novel will make you laugh out loud, gasp, and even get a little emotional. I found it cathartic. And, if any of y’all burnt out academics want to get around and discuss this…let me know.

Big, big thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Press for the ARC!! ❤️

What a fantastic debut from Elaine Hsieh Chou! I absolutely love novels that take place on college campuses and revolve around academia, and this one certainly did not disappoint. Cannot wait for Chou's next release!

Sorry I didn't request this book, not sure why i got it, not my type. I'm sure it's fine, i left the average four star rating so this will not affect the rating it already has.
Happy reading folks.

Started reading this and gave up high way through. I found I didn't like the story, it just wasn't very interesting to me. Very well written and good characters, but the story didn't captivate me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately, this satire of the whiteness of academia did not work for me. As a vehicle for commentary, I don’t think Ingrid was a strong character - she was just frustratingly incurious and dim. Everything about this novel felt juvenile and underdeveloped - the characters, prose, thin plot, and obvious moral and emotional messages. I found a lot about the novel inconsistent and unbelievable. Nothing about the logistics of this fictional academic world gelled with my own experiences of academia. Ingrid was just an inconsistent character - thinking “white” is tantamount to a slur and then just pages later considering someone a “white nationalist”? The idea that Ingrid has spent eight years researching a Chinese American poet but has never encountered work about anti-Asian racism, stereotypes, yellowface, etc. is literally unbelievable - how would she have made it through her comprehensive exams without engaging with such criticism? Is she such a negligent researcher that she has completely shut out an enormously important body of literature related to her dissertation topic?

As a satire I don’t think this novel is successful, because people who are interested in the subject matter likely don’t need to be taken on a very basic journey of discovery about how racism manifests institutionally. This does not read like a novel for adults with robust critical thinking skills.