RaveBad FormZauner captures the total singularity of motherhood in East Asian culture ... Zauner not only captures that apocalyptic, mind-bending pain of witnessing that central, most important person in your life wither and lose herself to her illness, of no longer recognising the woman who raised you and taught you right from wrong, but holds on to this feeling and wrestles with it, committing it to paper. I was disarmed and moved by her commitment to being truthful about the darkness of losing someone. She lingered on every ugly moment, the ones our brains quickly move on from and erase from our memory to protect us ... Although this is a book about loss and grief, it is equally a book full of love and joy. This is no more evident than in Zauner’s exploration of food, specifically Korean food, as a means for showing love and finding home ... Describing Korean home cooked dishes in beautiful, intricate detail and parsing through each careful step with palpable care, we see Zauner cook her way to a sense of self that is more connected to her heritage and her loved ones ... This book is a beautiful, longing tribute to the experience of being part of a diaspora, of wanting to belong to a place you barely know or understand, but that you desperately want to love and for it to love you back.
