Nine Books to Pair with MAN OF GOD
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Man of God, which runs from Feb 16 to Mar 6, starts with a horrible violation: Four high school girls discover their pastor has hidden a video camera in their bathroom during a mission trip to Bangkok. However, playwright Anna Ouyang Moench highlights more than that crime in her play. She shows the strength of being a woman, the underestimated and overwhelming complexity of being a high schooler, and more. The books below resonated in some way with these themes, so whether you see Man of God or not—and we hope you do—take a look at some of their stories, from real-life truths of an unjust judicial system, fictional coming-of-age stories, or poetry that speaks of beauty, bodies, and reclamation.
NONFICTION
Black Box: The Memoir that Sparked Japan’s #MeToo Movement
Written by Shiori Ito, translated by Allison Markin Powell
In 2015, Shiori Ito accused reporter Noriyuki Yamaguchi of rape but was told by the police that her case was a “black box,” or untouchable. This book, detailing her experience and an unjust system, helped launched the #MeToo movement in Japan; at the end of 2019, she won a civil case against Yamaguchi.
Written by Chanel Miller
Chanel Miller was known as “Emily Doe” for the entirety of Brock Turner’s 2015 court case—including her victim impact statement, which went viral. With her book, released in 2019, she is telling the world who she is and sharing her experience with shame, oppression, trauma, humor (bleak or otherwise), healing, resilience, and everything in between.
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts
Written by Maxine Hong Kingston
Through this blend of autobiography and mythology, Maxine Hong Kingston tries to reconcile the fierce women warriors of her mother’s stories and the female oppression her mother left when she moved from China to California.
Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire
Edited by Sonia Shah
Sixteen essays span topics including Asian women’s thoughts on immigration, work, health, domestic violence, spirituality, cultural production, and the media. Contributing authors include Shamita Das Dasgupta and Sayantani Das Dasgupta, third-world activists living in the Midwest; Tribe 8 lead guitarist Leslie Mah; and Bamboo Girl’s zine editor, Margarita Alacantara.
FICTION
Written by Nam-joo Cho
Kim Jiyoung is an average millennial in Seoul, living out her life in a tidy apartment and taking care of her infant daughter. One day, though, other women’s voices seem to speak through her, driving her husband to take her to a psychiatrist where she talks about her life, imprinted by little moments of misogyny, sexism, and oppressive patriarchy.
Written by Jenny Zhang
Narrated by the daughters of Chinese immigrants in America, these seven coming-of-age stories span decades and settings, from Shanghai during the Cultural Revolution to a public school in Queens.
Written by Saumya Dave
In one family, three generations of women struggle to feel comfortable discovering who they are amid decades-old regret, casual racism, and romantic relationships. Each character has to address things within themselves and within the world they live in, and while that doesn’t always look neat and tidy, it does look like family, ambition, womanhood, and eventually, love.
Written by An Na
Mina is the perfect daughter, just like her parents want—a straight A student, the best big sister, a cheerful helping hand around the family business. But here’s the thing. She knows she’s not the person she’s pretending to be, and when Ysrael comes to work for her parents, he dares her to figure out who she is underneath all the expectations. While this is the only young adult book on this list, it is by no means only for young adults.
POETRY
Written by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Across these poems are reflections on the damage of racial profiling, diaspora and unrest in Sri Lanka, reclaiming one’s body and sexuality after violence, healing, and the experiences, injustices, and power of being queer and being a person of color.