Yellowface
written by R. F. Kuang
You know when you associate a smell with a memory? I associate the sound of this audiobook with Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. I rented the audiobook of Yellowface from the library shortly after its release and listened to June Hayward get more and more frazzled, famous, and villainous as I hiyah-ed across Hyrule.
June Hayward is a writer, but she hasn’t taken off yet. She’s suffered rejections and has not been taking it well. Athena Liu has had the opposite experience and is sought out by the publishers that have spurned June. June and Athena have a friendship, but based on June’s salty inner monologue, Athena could do with a better pal. Though that hardly matters because while June and Athena are catching up at Athena’s place, Athena chokes on a pancake and dies! And what does June do? She decides to use this opportunity steal Athena’s latest manuscript and pass it off as her own.
You are firmly lodged in June’s mind as she justifies her string of despicable actions. She not “stealing” Athena’s manuscript, she’s protecting it. She’s not plagiarizing, she tweaked it, so it’s basically hers. We experience her warping the narrative for herself and her world, and it is unconscionable.
She finds the success she’s always dreamed of, and she’s not the only morally depraved person in publishing. The publishers jump on her success and develop a shady marketing strategy to get more sales off her (cough, Athena’s!) heavily researched book on about Chinese laborers in World War I. They didn’t change her name to sound more Asian to sell more copies, they just rearranged her given name. If people mistake her for being Chinese, who are they to correct them? June becomes Juniper Song and the publishers feed the media with tidbits to construct June’s faux Chinese identity. It’s not yellowface if it’s being used to get an important book out to the public right?
Kuang, takes a harsh look at exploitation in the profit-driven world of publishing. I’ve gotten a glimpse into publishing myself, and it’s worthy of speculation. I don’t believe that authors and publishers are a perfect match for Yellowface’s exaggerations, but there is some truth. The people I know in publishing love books more than almost anyone and care about their integrity. But, there’s a bottom line. Publishers are a business first and foremost. They cannot publish books if they can’t keep the lights on, so sometimes a less quality book will hit the shelves because the author has a large audience. It’s not purely about which books are best. This doesn’t mean good books aren’t being published, a couple bestsellers can generate enough money for a publisher to take risks with new authors and stories.
It's a dynamic I understand, but ultimately one that dissuaded me from joining that industry. Instead, I became a librarian, so I could share books with as many people as possible, without having to worry about being in the black.
If you appreciate satire, love books, and can stand to be tense for the entire duration of your read. Then let R.F. Kuang send you into June's self-rightous head. Just make sure you back up your work first and avoid too-dry pancakes.
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