Asian American Literature Fans

A Review of Eugene Lim’s Dear Cyborgs (FSG Originals, 2017)
By Stephen Hong Sohn

But, where were the cyborgs? Who are the cyborgs? These questions still remain with me, after having read this quirky work of fiction. Eugene Lim has been on my radar for quite awhile, but I’ve been totally behind and haven’t read his first two publications (Fog & Car and The Strangers). Here’s B&N with some more information on his latest Dear Cyborgs: “In a small Midwestern town, two Asian American boys bond over their outcast status and a mutual love of comic books. Meanwhile, in an alternative or perhaps future universe, a team of superheroes ponder modern society during their time off. Between black-ops missions and rescuing hostages, they swap stories of artistic malaise and muse on the seemingly inescapable grip of market economics. Gleefully toying with the conventions of the novel, Dear Cyborgs weaves together the story of a friendship’s dissolution with a provocative and timely meditation on protest. Through a series of linked monologues, a lively cast of characters explores narratives of resistance—protest art, eco-terrorists, Occupy squatters, pyromaniacal militants—and the extent to which any of these can truly withstand and influence the cold demands of contemporary capitalism. All the while, a mysterious cybernetic book of clairvoyance beckons, and trusted allies start to disappear. Entwining comic-book villains with cultural critiques, Eugene Lim’s Dear Cyborgs is a fleet-footed literary exploration of power, friendship, and creativity. Ambitious and knowing, it combines detective pulps, subversive philosophy, and Hollywood chase scenes, unfolding like the composites and revelations of a dream.”

Ah, this description! Well, does this work toy with the conventions of the novel? I suppose so, because it’s not a conventionally linear narrative. To say that I was confused by the ending would put it mildly. The narrative concerning the Asian American friendship is a frame that provides only a loose logic around what ends up actually occurring over the course of a short span of pages. There’s a meta-fictional impulse that seems to suggest that much of what we are reading is the textual translation of the comic book that the two Asian American characters write together once they are adults, but there’s no assurance that this explanation is the proper one. The other thing to note about the narrative is that much of it unfolds much like a play. There were portions that were extended monologues spoken by one character; these monologues were SO long and often so convoluted that I ended up reading them out loud just to keep the train of thought. Much of these monologues were philosophical in nature and spoken amongst the main superhero cadre in the story, but what is the larger point of this work?

There’s quite a lot of mini-narratives concerning artists, writers, and the fact of commodification. There’s also a number of other mini-narratives concerning political activism and resistance, but the circuitous nature of this work leaves us on very unstable ground. References to Richard Aoki and Asian American Studies within the last act of the novel only trouble the waters further, so we’re continually left in a state of stasis. Perhaps, this lack of resolution is part of the point, but Lim is not operating within the standard tropes of postmodernism first hallmarked by Angela Carter, Thomas Pynchon, and others. There seems to be a definitive desire to break out of the aforementioned malaise that exists, an apolitical ennui that suffuses all of the characters and leaves us in a tortuous surrealistic world, the likes of which seem more reminiscent of the fictions of Pamela Lu than the rabbit-hole of traditional postmodern writers. And so, I leave this review much like I began it: where were the cyborgs?

Buy the Book Here:

Review Author: Stephen Hong Sohn
Review Editor: Leslie J. Fernandez

If you have any questions or want us to consider your book for review, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email!
Prof. Stephen Hong Sohn at ssohnucr@gmail.com
Leslie J. Fernandez, PhD Student in English, at lfern010@ucr.edu