Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, Should be Required Reading for BIPoC Authors
Let me just get this out of the way right now. I loved Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang. This is an honest review, but I am warning you right now, I only have good things to say about this hilarious - but unsettling - novel, that skewers the publishing industry, makes a mockery of white fragility, and paints #authorlife as the extravagant, glamorous experience I still long for in my secret heart of hearts.
What Yellowface is Really About
It would be easy to say that Yellowface is just a dark, comic satire of the publishing industry. The story revolves around aspiring author June Hayward, who yearns to be a literary It Girl. Just like her friend Athena Liu, who is a bestselling and respected author with all the awards and movie deals to show for it. So, when Athena dies in a freak accident, and June has the chance to take Athena’s unfinished manuscript and pass it off as her own, she does. And so the story unfolds. As readers, we’re forced to keep turning pages to see if June will get away with her crime.
Yellowface is about so much more than office politics in the publishing industry.
As a writer and a longtime observer of the publishing industry, I was already on board with this insider’s storyline, but Rebecca Kuang didn’t write a 322-page masterpiece just to talk business. Oh no, friends, there’s more to this book than a bright yellow cover and a clever premise. Because June is white and Athena is Asian, and cultural appropriation is a real thing, this book is about so much more than the book business. It’s about race, racism, celebrity culture, identity politics, and white supremacy. But it reads like a NSFW telenovela with an influential cast of prominent Asian-American characters.
And Kuang holds nothing back, showing the ugly underbelly of everyone involved in this story. The writers, the agents, editors, even the lowly editorial assistants are not spared the author’s cutting pen. There are no good guys in this book, just a lot of self-interested bad guys, some worse than others.
Why Yellowface Should Be Required Reading for BIPoC Writers
I think Yellowface should be required reading for all BIPoC writers who still dream of literary stardom. Why? Because after reading this guilty-pleasure novel, it will be impossible to still believe in the idea of a meritocracy in publishing. The truth is revealed about how biased and unfair the industry is as a whole, not to mention the constant reminders that the publishing industry is in the business of making money, not art. And while it is a novel with an over-the-top premise, the racial politics, cultural appropriation, and utter lack of awareness of identity politics by the gatekeepers in the publishing industry rings quite true. No lies were detected. None.
So, while the ultimate message of the book is depressing - that a white woman can pass off a dead Asian woman’s work as her own and not only get away with it, but also profit immensely from it - I think it’s better that aspiring authors know the truth rather than wander into the publishing world all bright-eyed and naive. Yes, it’s a bitter pill to swallow, but Yellowface makes it quite entertaining going down.
Yellowface Gives ‘Real Housewives of Publishing’ Vibes
Not everyone is going to love Yellowface, because all of the characters are horrible people. Almost every single one of them is looking out only for themselves. And our unreliable narrator, June Hayward, is the worst of them all. She’s selfish, vindictive, racist, and she lacks compassion for anyone but herself. She is a literary Karen, and she knows it.
But despite all of these despicable characters, the book is un-put-down-able as we race through the pages trying to figure out how far June’s farce will go. The secret sauce to this book’s success is how rooted it is in 21st-century reality. Reality TV that is. Yellowface gives total Real Housewives of Publishing energy, complete with savage girl fights, vapid female leads, and shocking revelations. There are social media shenanigans, cancel culture is in full effect, and June Hayward could be loosely based on Jeanine Cummins, who was accused of cultural appropriation in her novel American Dirt. And while we aren’t meant to like or even sympathize with June, somehow there comes a point in the story, when many of us are secretly rooting for her to win. It will be interesting to see how the book stands the test of time.
The Meaning of Yellowface
The word yellowface, like blackface, refers to the American stage and screen inspired practice of casting white actors to play East Asian characters, usually with yellow tinted make-up, exaggerated facial features, and bad accents. Starting in the theater, followed by similar practices in Hollywood, America has a long history of using yellowface to denigrate, as well as appropriate, Asian culture. In Kuang’s book, June Hayward is continuing this tradition by stealing an Asian woman’s work, but also, trying to pass as vaguely Asian herself. The book reads as satire and is a light read, but when you understand the painful tradition of yellowface in the United States, then you understand that Kuang’s book differs only slightly from today’s reality. At which point you realize that Yellowface, the book, is actually a tragedy. But, before you shed any tears over that sad fact, remember Rebecca F. Kuang is the puppet master behind this tragic tale, the one collecting the paycheck while throwing everyone elso under the bus, the Asians and the whites. So, maybe rather than Yellowface, we should call Kuang’s masterpiece, payback.
More Book Reviews by Lori L. Tharps
If you enjoyed my review of Yellowface and want to see what I thought about other books, check out this review of Ours by Phillip B. Williams and this review of The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I will be sharing more book reviews on the blog as part of my intentional reading practice.