The Sense of Wonder - A Novel

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.

USA Today's 20 Most Anticipated Books of Winter
Salon's 22 Books We're Looking Forward to in 2023
Philadelphia Inquirer's Best New Books to Kick Off 2023
Los Angeles Times's Best Books of January
Esquire's January 2023 Book Club Pick
Vulture's 30 Books We Can't Wait to Read This Winter
Chicago Review of Books's 12 Must-Read Books of January 2023
The Orange County Register's Most Anticipated of 2023
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Apple Books's Staff Picks of January
Vanity Fair's 8 Books We Can't Stop Talking About This Month
Literary Hub's Best Book Covers of January

About the author

Matthew Salesses is the author of The Sense of Wonder, national bestseller Craft in the Real World, the 2021 finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear, and two other novels. Adopted from Korea, he has written about adoption, race, and Asian American masculinity in The Best American Essays 2020, NPR’s Code Switch, the New York Times blog Motherlode, and The Guardian, among other media outlets. BuzzFeed has named him one of 32 Essential Asian American Writers. He lives in New York City, where he is an Assistant Professor of Writing at Columbia University.

Summary

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.

USA Today's 20 Most Anticipated Books of Winter
Salon's 22 Books We're Looking Forward to in 2023
Philadelphia Inquirer's Best New Books to Kick Off 2023
Los Angeles Times's Best Books of January
Esquire's January 2023 Book Club Pick
Vulture's 30 Books We Can't Wait to Read This Winter
Chicago Review of Books's 12 Must-Read Books of January 2023
The Orange County Register's Most Anticipated of 2023
Powell's Picks of the Month
Book Culture's Most Anticipated Books of January
Apple Books's Staff Picks of January
Vanity Fair's 8 Books We Can't Stop Talking About This Month
Literary Hub's Best Book Covers of January

Foreword

From the author of Pen/Faulkner finalist Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear and Craft in the Real World comes a searing masterwork on the ways Asian Americans navigate the thorny worlds of sports and entertainment when everything is stacked against them.

Product details

• Authors: Matthew Salesses, Salesses Matthew
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 11.06.2024
• EAN: 9780316425810
• ISBN: 978-0-316-42581-0
• No. of pages: 256
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 210 mm x 22 mm
• Weight: 240 g
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Basketball, SPORTS & RECREATION / Basketball, FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Friendship, Relationships: friends / peer groups, Relating to Asian American people, Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary