A Bitch's Guide to Books

Yi and Elisabeth talk about Jenny Zhang’s beautiful collection of short stories showcasing the perspectives of young Chinese American immigrants living in New York City. We talk about broken english, bittersweet sibling dynamics, and the exploitation of trauma in POC literature (and college!). 
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Elisabeth and Yi get INTO this feel-good classic in a way no one has or has ever wanted to. We talk Carmen carrying the heavy burden of representation as “the fat girl” and the only POC character, Bridget’s relationship with casual sex, Lena’s fake deep monologues, and Tibby’s underwhelming storyline. Lights, camera, good conversation! 

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This episode, we’re covering another much loved and hated classic, Jane Eyre!! Yi and Elisabeth unpack how sexy yet problematic they find the relationship between Jane and Rochestor. We also delve into real life ramifications of age gaps in relationships, Charlotte Bronte’s sneaky feminism, and how the novel Re Jane compares female genitalia to Korean dishes. Enjoy, and feel free to take a shot every time you hear the phrase “power dynamics.”

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Yi and Elisabeth ring in season two by answering the question, what do we want female-driven YA to look like? Moreover, what do we want POC centred, POC written YA to look like? Moreover even more, why doesn’t anyone talk about Chris? Do we have answers? Maybe! Find out! 

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Elisabeth and Yi catch each other up on their summers and catch you up on the revamped and laser-focused mission and vision of this podcast post-guinea pig season one. 

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Elisabeth and Yi talk Chris McCandless’ white male privilege, Jon Krakauer’s blindspots as a biased author, and the ethics of exploitative journalism. What is Into the Wild really trying to do here? Too much to cover in a high school english class. Take it off the summer reading list, we say!

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Yi and Elisabeth explore the creation of a new canon that’s oppositional to the white literary canon in Beloved—what is the white literary canon? How does censorship perpetuate the white canon and a white world? What does it mean for an author to shoulder the burden of political representation? How many times can we say canon before you get sick of it? Canon.
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Elisabeth and Yi talk about the harmful place celebrities take up in social justice movements, colorblind casting, and get heated about the perversion of Katniss’ signature braid in the movie adaptation.

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Elisabeth and Yi ring in this next month of episodes on dystopia with some mixed media—Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery and Black Mirror’s episode “USS Callister.” Then we play word association games around dystopian words and make some points that almost hit the mark. Like they’re fine. Short enough that you’ll forgive it.    

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Yi and Elisabeth talk obsession as romance, sex positivity on college campuses, and the place of erotic fiction in mainstream lit. Take a shot everytime one of us says “sex,” “problematic,” or “upsetting” and let us know down in the reviews if you get your stomach pumped!  

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