RaveThe Los Angeles Review... illuminating essays ... Shah’s embrace of the lyric essay—a form that allows her to use her early training and natural instincts as a poet—and its appearance alongside the narrative essay gives the book the intimacy and intelligence of a trusted friend ... Shah’s desire to clarify, reflect upon, or amend original thoughts contribute to the sense of continuity in this collection ... a necessary and absorbing look into what it means to be this particular woman, this particular writer, at a particular time in America. As we see the uniqueness of her, we also see the experiences of many—of being brown in America. In a time when immigrants are blocked from entering the country by racist, scapegoating policies, This Is One Way to Dance reminds us of the richness immigrants and their offspring bring.
Carmen Maria Machado
RaveThe Seattle Review of Books\"We live in a sexist world — and sexism engenders sexual assault, body shaming, and silencing of women. These are among the harms Machado exposes in these artfully structured stories, in language that is often bizarrely beautiful. It’s a vibrant collection that presents women in their vulnerabilities and strengths in relationships with men, in relationships with other women, and in reflection upon their own bodies as they sort through the social conventions that have long stifled their full expression of self … While Machado plays with form — scaffolding a story on a collection of urban myths (‘The Husband Stitch’), cataloging of sexual and love encounters as a means of measuring the progress of a virus that is decimating the country (‘Inventory’), replotting five seasons of Law and Order episodes (‘Especially Heinous’), she slays with language.\
