Li is an unsparing observer of our unsparing times’ Susan Choi, author of Flashlight
‘A smart, engrossing, beautifully observed examination of millennial friendship, social media and generational differences’ Francesca Hornak, author of So Good to See You
Diana, Justin, Errol and Vivian have been best friends for as long as they can remember. They did everything their strict parents asked: studied hard, attended good universities, only to end up back in their childhood bedrooms with no jobs in sight.
So when Grace – neighbourhood golden girl turned Harvard Law dropout – asks to make a documentary about their post-grad limbo, they agree. It’s not like her little movie will ever see the light of day. Until it does. Overnight, the video goes viral, catapulting their most cringeworthy moments to internet stardom and turning private confessions into public punchlines.
Eight years later, can the video that broke them apart also bring them back together? And is it too late to build the lives they once dreamed of?
Razor-sharp and emotionally resonant, Bad Asians is a story of youth, ambition and growing up online – a moving exploration of the friendships that will always feel like home.
PRAISE FOR BAD ASIANS:
‘A sharp, propulsive novel about ambition, identity, and the bonds that shape us’ Weike Wang, author of Rental House
‘Captures the tenderness and mess of youth. A book that reminds us how little we know about the people we treasure most’ Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Starling Days
‘A wild, propulsive ride of a novel that explores the damaging spiral of social media fame with razor-sharp observations’ Emma Nanami Strenner, author of The Other Heart
‘A story for all the formerly “gifted and talented kids”. . . offers a delightful dose of nostalgia – and an affecting interrogation of the personas we put on, both online and in real life’ Katie Yee, author of Maggie; or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar
Reviews
The four friends at the center of Bad Asians are bonded by the brutal pressures of their immigrant parents, racist schoolyard bullies, their crushing expectations of themselves, and their jealousy of local ‘it girl’ and parent dream-come-true Grace, who seems incapable of doing any wrong. But when a film Grace makes of them goes viral, their collective fame as “bad Asians” threatens to destroy their bonds forever. The ugly underbelly of internet notoriety-and whether or not it’s survivable-is the riveting question Bad Asians explores. Lillian Li is an unsparing observer of our unsparing times
Susan Choi, author of Trust Exercise
A smart, engrossing, beautifully observed examination of millennial friendship, social media and generational differences – I loved it
Francesca Hornak, author of So Good to See You
Li captures the tenderness and mess of youth. A book that reminds us how little we know about the people we treasure most. It made me want to call my oldest friends!
Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Starling Days
