A vibrant story collection about Cambodian-American lifeimmersive and comic, yet unsparingthat offers profound insight into the intimacy of queer and immigrant communities

Seamlessly transitioning between the absurd and the tenderhearted, balancing acerbic humor with sharp emotional depth,Afterpartiesoffers an expansive portrait of the lives of Cambodian-Americans. As the children of refugees carve out radical new paths for themselves in California, they shoulder the inherited weight of the Khmer Rouge genocide and grapple with the complexities of race, sexuality, friendship, and family.

A high school badminton coach and failing grocery store owner tries to relive his glory days by beating a rising star teenage player. Two drunken brothers attend a wedding afterparty and hatch a plan to expose their shady uncles snubbing of the bride and groom. A queer love affair sparks between an older tech entrepreneur trying to launch a safe space app and a disillusioned young teacher obsessed withMoby-Dick. And in the sweeping final story, a nine-year-old child learns that his mother survived a racist school shooter.

The stories inAfterparties, powered by Sos skill with the telling detail, are like beams of wry, affectionate light, falling from different directions on a complicated, struggling, beloved American community (George Saunders).

Anthony Veasna So (1992-2020) was a graduate of Stanford University and earned his MFA in fiction at Syracuse University. His writing has appeared in or is forthcoming in theNew Yorker, The Paris Review n+1, Granta, andZYZZYVA.A native of Stockton, California, he taught at Colgate University, Syracuse University, and the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants in Oakland, California.

• Publisher:Ecco (June 7, 2022)
• Language:English
• Paperback:272 pages
• ISBN-10:0063049899
• ISBN-13:9780063049895
• Item Weigh:1 pounds
• Dimensions:5.31 x 0.61 x 8 inches