The Sense of Wonder
A Novel
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3.8 • 6 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
From the author of PEN/Faulkner finalist Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear and Craft in the Real World comes a "a smart, very meta take" (Kirkus Reviews) on the ways Asian Americans navigate the thorny worlds of sports and entertainment when everything is stacked against them.
An Asian American basketball star walks into a gym. No one recognizes him, but everyone stares anyway. It is the start of a joke but what is the punchline? When Won Lee, the first Asian American in the NBA, stuns the world in a seven-game winning streak, the global media audience dubs it “The Wonder”—much to Won’s chagrin. Meanwhile, Won struggles to get attention from his coach, his peers, his fans, and most importantly, his hero, Powerball!, who also happens to be Won’s teammate and the captain. Covering it all is sportswriter Robert Sung, who writes about Won's stardom while grappling with his own missed hoops opportunities as well as his place as an Asian American in media. And to witness it all is Carrie Kang, a big studio producer, who juggles a newfound relationship with Won while attempting to bring K-drama to an industry not known to embrace anything new or different.
The Sense of Wonder follows Won and Carrie as they chronicle the human and professional tensions exacerbated by injustices and fight to be seen and heard on some of the world’s largest stages. An incredibly funny and heart-rending dive into race and our “collective imagination that lays bare our limitations before blasting joyfully past them” (Catherine Chung). This is the work of a gifted storyteller at the top of his game.
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APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Matthew Salesses gives us a smart, entertaining novel about love, basketball, and the Asian American experience. Korean American basketball player Won Lee earns the nickname “the Wonder” when he unexpectedly takes the NBA by storm while filling in for his team’s absent superstar. Meanwhile, his TV producer girlfriend, Carrie, is trying to find her niche in the world of Korean drama. Both seem to be headed for big things—and both are in danger of becoming footnotes. Salesses doesn’t shy away from the racism his characters face every day, from nasty slurs to sneaky microaggressions. We love the way Salesses borrows famous tropes from Korean melodramas, creating a clever container for exploring some weighty issues. The delightfully clever result is hard to put down even if you’re not much of a basketball—or soap opera—fan.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Novelist and critic Salesses (Craft in the Real World) offers a brilliant and scathing chronicle of two Asian Americans as they try to find their place in contemporary sports and media. As the first Asian American in the NBA, Korean American Won Lee is poised to become a star after he steps in for his injured Knicks teammate Paul Burton (nicknamed "Powerball!"), his winning streak earning him the nickname "the Wonder." But he's also confronted by casual and at times cutting racism from teammates, coaches, and fans, as well as professional jealousy from an ESPN reporter, Robert Sung, who played high school ball with Powerball! and used to imagine himself in Won's shoes. Meanwhile, Won's girlfriend, Carrie, is fighting an uphill battle in her efforts to bring Korean television dramas to an American market. Using language that is hilarious, caustic, and poignant, Salesses effectively interrogates whether and how Asians can contribute to American celebrity culture without meeting the same old racism in return. Robert's profile of Won, for instance, ends up with a reference to China in the headline, and when Carrie risks pitching a K-drama with American characters, an executive asks if she can "hear how that sounds like you don't know what you're doing." Incorporating both Won and Carrie's perspectives while also weaving in plots and scripts from K-dramas, Salesses fills the page with all the bold, kinetic confidence of an athlete striding onto the court.
