Not a Self-Help Book by Yi Shun Lai

On the most recent episode of the GSMC Book Review Podcast I interviewed Yi Shun Lai, who is a writer of both fiction and non-fiction, an editor and writing coach, and part-owner of the Tahoma Literary Review. Author Camille Griep is the person who first got me into contact with Yi Shun and we then proceeded to go through what felt like a comedy of errors to find an interview time. She might be the most patient person ever. Thankfully we finally succeeded in finding time to chat, and I'm so glad we did because not only did I love her novel, Not a Self-Help Book: The Misadventures of Marty Wu, but Yi Shun has been a delight to get to know over these past months and the numerous emails.

Source

Marty Wu, compulsive reader of advice manuals, would love to come across as a poised young advertising professional. Instead she trips over her own feet and blurts out inappropriate comments. The bulk of her brain matter, she decides, consists of gerbils "spinning madly in alternating directions."

Marty hopes to someday open a boutique costume shop, but it's hard to keep focused on her dream. First comes a spectacular career meltdown that sends her ricocheting between the stress of New York and the warmth of supportive relatives in Taiwan. Then she faces one domestic drama after another, with a formidable mother who's impossible to please, an annoyingly successful and well- adjusted brother, and surprising family secrets that pop up just when she doesn't want to deal with them.

Mining the comedic potential of the 1.5-generation American experience, NOT A SELF-HELP BOOK is an insightful and witty portrait of a young woman scrambling to balance familial expectations and her own creative dreams. (Source)

This book is hilarious. It's more than just funny, though, it's also poignant and thoughtful. Some of Marty's struggles will be familiar to many, but her particular cultural and family circumstances draw attention to how those struggles might be different for as a 1.5 generation Asian American woman. Marty struggles with a lot of expectations from a lot of different sources, and she has to sort through numerous layers in her life and the lives of her family, especially her mother, in order to begin to sort through those expectations and see where they line up with the expectations and hopes she has for herself.

Genres:

• Comedy
• Women's Fiction
• Contemporary

What I enjoyed:

• The humor that Yi Shun injects into the story. I couldn't read this book in public because I kept busting out into uncontrollable laughter.
• Marty's relationship with her mother. This relationship is difficult and Marty's mother comes across as kind of awful at times, but the relationship is also very real. It manages to encompass the complexity that exists within relationships and how culture and families of origin help to shape communication styles.
• Seeing both Taiwan and New York through Marty's eyes, because both places are home to her, and she experiences both differently.

Who should read the Not a Self-Help Book?

• Fans of books that are hilarious but also thoughtful and thought-provoking.
• Fans of women's fiction.
• Fans of books with complicated relationships, especially complicated family relationships.

Quotes:

• "Some overly dramatic part of me is yelling, 'Foiled again!' and shaking my fist at the sky. In fact, nothing so exciting is actually happening except for the slow sinking feeling I recognize as my pipe dream, uh, going down the drain."
• "I really hate this notebook, by the way. What the hell is the point of a notebook with lines? How do you imagine anything in a notebooks with lines?"
• "Brain gerbils were spinning madly in alternating directions on their wheel, careening between Act indignant! and Stand there with your mouth open!"

Where you can find Yi Shun online:
Website: http://thegooddirt.org/
Blog: http://thegooddirt.org/blog/
Twitter: @gooddirt
Amazon: Yi Shun Lai
GoodReads: Yi Shun Lai

Author Bio:

Source

Yi Shun Lai (say "yeeshun" for her first name) is the author of Not a Self-Help Book: The Misadventures of Marty Wu (Shade Mountain Press, 2016).

She is a writer and editor living in Southern California. She is the nonfiction editor for the Tahoma Literary Review.

She was, for a time, the youngest-ever writer for the legendary J. Peterman catalog. And that was before "Seinfeld" discovered it. (Source)

To hear the interview with Yi Shun please click here.