Socialist Realism

This meditative work moves quickly, if not quite seamlessly, between memoir and cultural criticism, as poet Low (The Compleat Purge) describes how she has pursued both a passion for radical politics and a sense of belonging. Low grapples with her beliefs and life decisions in a non-chronological narrative that details her decisions for leaving Singapore for college in Philadelphia, followed by grad school in New York City, and then decamping for California. Among passages that recount personal moments—conversations with friends about how grief is displayed on Facebook, poignant memories of saying goodbye to her mother in an airport after a return visit to Singapore—Low scatters explanations of the development of her worldview. Only able to furtively explore alternative routes in politics and sexuality in Singapore’s repressive atmosphere—a childhood viewing of The Talented Mr. Ripley is a revelation—Low finds her sensibilities maturing after her NYU professor, queer theory fixture José Esteban Muñoz, teaches her she can combine skepticism and optimism: “It was OK for my nihilism to be utopic, for my politics to also be a sensibility.” Slipping smoothly between stylistic registers and across time in a relaxed stream-of-consciousness style, this highly readable, lyrical autobiographical essay promises much for Low’s further excursions into prose. (Aug.)