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Cathy Park Hong

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning (One World Essentials) Paperback – March 2, 2021

by Cathy Park Hong (Author)

4.5 3,077 ratings

Part of: One World Essentials (12 books)

Editors' pick Best Biographies & Memoirs

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National Book Critics Circle AwardWinner, 2020

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER • ONE OF TIME’S 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE • A ruthlessly honest, emotionally charged, and utterly original exploration of Asian American consciousness

“Brilliant . . . To read this book is to become more human.”—Claudia Rankine, author of Citizen

In development as a television series starring and adapted by Greta Lee • One of Time’s 10 Best Nonfiction Books of the Year • Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, New Statesman, BuzzFeed, Esquire, The New York Public Library, and Book Riot

Poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong fearlessly and provocatively blends memoir, cultural criticism, and history to expose fresh truths about racialized consciousness in America. Part memoir and part cultural criticism, this collection is vulnerable, humorous, and provocative—and its relentless and riveting pursuit of vital questions around family and friendship, art and politics, identity and individuality, will change the way you think about our world.

Binding these essays together is Hong’s theory of “minor feelings.” As the daughter of Korean immigrants, Cathy Park Hong grew up steeped in shame, suspicion, and melancholy. She would later understand that these “minor feelings” occur when American optimism contradicts your own reality—when you believe the lies you’re told about your own racial identity. Minor feelings are not small, they’re dissonant—and in their tension Hong finds the key to the questions that haunt her.

With sly humor and a poet’s searching mind, Hong uses her own story as a portal into a deeper examination of racial consciousness in America today. This intimate and devastating book traces her relationship to the English language, to shame and depression, to poetry and female friendship. A radically honest work of art, Minor Feelings forms a portrait of one Asian American psyche—and of a writer’s search to both uncover and speak the truth.

Praise for Minor Feelings

“Hong begins her new book of essays with a bang. . . .The essays wander a variegated terrain of memoir, criticism and polemic, oscillating between smooth proclamations of certainty and twitches of self-doubt. . . . Minor Feelings is studded with moments [of] candor and dark humor shot through with glittering self-awareness.”—The New York Times

“Hong uses her own experiences as a jumping off point to examine race and emotion in the United States.”—Newsweek

“Powerful . . . [Hong] brings together memoiristic personal essay and reflection, historical accounts and modern reporting, and other works of art and writing, in order to amplify a multitude of voices and capture Asian America as a collection of contradictions. She does so with sharp wit and radical transparency.”—Salon

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Part of series

One World Essentials
Print length

224 pages
Language

English
Publication date

March 2, 2021
Dimensions

5.24 x 0.63 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

1984820389
ISBN-13

978-1984820389
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Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning (One World Essentials)

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Customer reviews

3,077 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book insightful and relatable. They describe it as a fantastic, immersive read with an eloquent writing style. The humor and emotional content are appreciated. However, some customers report issues with the sturdiness of the book, with some pages being damaged or torn.

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Insight Readability Writing style Comedy Emotional content Sturdiness

45 customers mention "Insight"45 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful and thought-provoking. It opens their eyes to experiences and contradictory views. They appreciate the author's eloquence and the way it puts things into perspective. The interweaving of history, personal experience, comedy, and difficult topics makes it an informative and moving read.

"Loved this book, really put things into perspective for me!" Read more

"...I felt exposed and profoundly recognized as each essay, each page, each passage peeled away a layer to distant internalized feelings, “ugly feelings..." Read more

"...Both tackle the uncomfortable topics of history, racism, and privileges allowed to some people through our social hierarchy...." Read more

"...Especially meaningful, I think, is her discussion of how big name writers work shops like Iowa treat Asian American writers, and probably all..." Read more

43 customers mention "Readability"39 positive4 negative

Customers find the book engaging and relatable. They describe it as an immersive, informative read that allows them to connect with the author. The last couple of chapters are praised for their honesty. Overall, readers find the memoir insightful and timely for today's political climate.

"Loved this book, really put things into perspective for me!" Read more

"...Reading Minor Feelings was so deeply gratifying, satisfying, inspiring, empowering, and illuminating...." Read more

"...It is important for everyone to read, not just those who immediately identify with Hong's 1.5/2nd generation East Asian female persona...." Read more

"I love this book and the entries. A few bits were to close to home as a fellow asian-american" Read more

27 customers mention "Writing style"22 positive5 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style. They find it eloquent, clear, and lyrical. The author's use of language is amazing, even as she says she wants to break it. The book is easy to read in some parts and academic and challenging in others.

"...Each essay is so layered and beautifully written, delving into the variegated truths and contradictions of Asian American identity and weaving..." Read more

"...Her depth and use of English language is amazing, even as she says she wants to break it...." Read more

"...There s so much here to remark on: the depth of artistic endeavor the author experienced, the namwa of artists we should all know but don't, and..." Read more

"...Neither white nor a person of color. Beautifully written. Her poetic voice drives the narrative. (less)" Read more

3 customers mention "Comedy"3 positive0 negative

Customers like the book's humor.

"...But then, the therapist rejects her. Funny...." Read more

"...Very appreciative of the interweaving of history, personal experience, comedy, and difficult topics...." Read more

"This is one of the best books I’ve read. It’s brilliant, hilarious, terrifying, and mind-blowing in its intuition and insight. Please read it." Read more

3 customers mention "Emotional content"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's emotional content honest and relatable. They describe it as visceral and confronting, yet comfortable.

"...the concept of race functions on a historic, artistic, and visceral level in the US." Read more

"...Every emotion, every vulnerability, every self deprecating thought she spoke about in the book, I feel a version of that almost every day and her..." Read more

"Confrontational and comfortable..." Read more

5 customers mention "Sturdiness"3 positive2 negative

Customers have different views on the book's sturdiness. Some find it in good condition, carefully crafted, and introspective. Others report slight damage, including torn pages.

"Great book! I bought this to read for a book club. The book is in good condition." Read more

"Just got the product and the cover was dirty and slightly damaged on the top. Some of the pages were torn on the top as well." Read more

"so many things ive been thinking consolidated into one carefully crafted and introspective collection !! hong is always so honest." Read more

"Identity: beautifully dissected, refracted, and smashed...." Read more

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sophia
Great books for students
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2025
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Loved this book, really put things into perspective for me!

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Nance
An essential read
Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2020
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Cathy Park Hong unpacks, confronts, and dismantles the “model minority” myth and fearlessly explores the complexities of being Asian in America while examining and updating race, capitalism and identity to the 21st century. Each essay is so layered and beautifully written, delving into the variegated truths and contradictions of Asian American identity and weaving personal memories and reflections with historical and current events and cultural and social criticism.

Minor Feelings is many things, it’s hard to put into words, or words that can adequately convey how powerful and brilliant it is. Reading Minor Feelings was so deeply gratifying, satisfying, inspiring, empowering, and illuminating. I felt exposed and profoundly recognized as each essay, each page, each passage peeled away a layer to distant internalized feelings, “ugly feelings” that I had have never reckoned with or known how to even acknowledge. Minor Feelings articulates these emotions and experiences into sharp focus, where I felt overwhelmed as I wasn’t prepared to feel so seen, where my invisible self became visible. Hong’s essays have equipped me with something that I’ve been searching for, a voice. Mira Jacob writes, “[Minor Feelings] takes all the parts of us that we can barely account for and gives them back fully recognized. It felt like having someone sit me down in a chair and say ‘You’re feelings are real’ and ‘This is how we got here’ and Here is a way out’ all at once…” Minor Feelings is an essential read, now more than ever.

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52 people found this helpful

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Darlene Asselin
a tough but worthwhile read
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2024
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I’m so glad I read this book as it’s just as important, albeit very different, book as Caste. Both tackle the uncomfortable topics of history, racism, and privileges allowed to some people through our social hierarchy.

Minor Feelings felt so much more visceral and personal than Caste did to me. While Isabelle Wilkerson relayed some of her personal experiences into the book, Caste was a more wonky piece than this book. Hong makes a point throughout the book of highlighting her rage at both the disrespects and gaslighting of Asian Americans (a questionable term, as she repeats through the book). The emotions are immediate and unfiltered in Minor Feelings and that’s one of the reasons it got uncomfortable

I also have never felt so dumb reading a book. I didn’t recognize so many authors and artists and poets that she references and quotes, even as I consider myself a reasonably well-read person. Plus there were a number of words where I had to pull up the dictionary, included Calibanize. Her depth and use of English language is amazing, even as she says she wants to break it.

I’m not a huge essay reader and I enjoyed her chapters that were leaning more in to the memoir. Overall, I’d reccomend this book to nearly everyone. As Hong quotes in the book, “you can’t do better unless you know better.”

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4 people found this helpful

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Michael S. Shepard
An indispensible addition to the library of Asian American memoir
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2025
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I love this book especially because Hong resists any temptation to write about the Asian American situation in fancy graduate school language that nobody understands.
Also, Cathy reads the audio book herself which is always best!
Especially meaningful, I think, is her discussion of how big name writers work shops like Iowa treat Asian American writers, and probably all writers who don't happen to be white men.

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Dong Liu
Incredible moving
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2020
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Cathy Park Hong does an amazing job weaving and unpacking her own history within the larger context of Asian Americans in the US. It is by no means a comprehensive book on the AAPI identity and struggles faced historically and presently, but she does a very honest acknowledgment of that throughout. The concept of "minor feelings" resonates throughout the book, in a very "show not tell" way of her personal anecdotes. It is important for everyone to read, not just those who immediately identify with Hong's 1.5/2nd generation East Asian female persona. This is a book I had only wished was published sooner and I hope those of a younger generation can read it now. This gives the Asian American identity and experience such a rich history and weight of the generations before them. The stories of those we rarely or never learn about in school, and the struggles that have been glossed over for far too long. I encourage everyone to read this, to gift it, and to let it be the beginning of many challenging but rebuilding conversations between us.

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6 people found this helpful

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RAYSKAR
3.5 Stars - Very important points about being Asian-American, but wasn't a fan of the writing style
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2023
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This book made such good points about being Asian-American. There are SO MANY incredible quotes that really highlight the Asian experience as a whole. It is so hard to find Asian-American books that really highlight the internal struggles of being Asian-American. Cathy Park Hong very eloquently highlights these struggles in a way that ignites emotions and understanding in her audience.

However, that being said, Hong's writing style often left me feeling confused. Hong inserts these very poignant paragraphs of reflection and insight. However, between these paragraphs, there are often very quick jumps between narratives that don't seemingly connect to one another. Hong alternates from talking about one event to talking about something completely different, without ever really transitioning between the two. This style overall left me confused and took away from the really moving pieces of insight that she offered throughout the book.

Overall, if you can move past the slightly confusing writing style, Hong offers very poignant insight into what it means to be Asian-American and what it means to be human. I wish that the anecdotes in this novel had flowed better, however, I still believe that the novel offers very good insight and voice on the Asian-American experience.

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3 people found this helpful

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HappyCustomer
Relevant
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2024
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I love this book and the entries. A few bits were to close to home as a fellow asian-american

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Top reviews from other countries

André Mejia
A must read
Reviewed in Mexico on October 14, 2023
Verified Purchase

Beautiful writing that takes you softly through the stories of people you must know, I cried and laughed, and related to a lot since colonialism affect all of us non-white people in different ways. I am grateful to learn about Cathy Park Hong experiences. And also learn hints of what I personally should continue to unpack as a Brown latine person that can also portray colonial violences, because it's not about intent but about the impact of our words and actions. Everyone should read this magnificent book.

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Ran Ren
best book
Reviewed in Canada on November 20, 2022
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inspiring ideas and perfect delivery!

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Eena
Haven’t read the book yet, reviewing for the condition
Reviewed in Belgium on January 24, 2023
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Book arrived fast and glad it’s on discount, but there’s a crease on the cover. Can’t wait to read this tho

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Eena

Haven’t read the book yet, reviewing for the condition

Reviewed in Belgium on January 24, 2023
Book arrived fast and glad it’s on discount, but there’s a crease on the cover. Can’t wait to read this tho

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Kindle Customer
Do not buy the Indian edition. It's extremely poor quality!
Reviewed in India on August 23, 2022
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Published by Hachette India for South Asia this is one of the cheapest cover and paper I've seen sold for rs 500. Avoid. And there's no way to get a refund!

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Ninaom1
painful and necessary
Reviewed in the Netherlands on April 11, 2022
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This wasn’t an easy read, but it was a worthwhile one. Cathy reckons with all the complexities regarding race and privilege without providing a clear cut answer and while always keeping humanity in mind.

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