Insightful ... Despite its precise analysis of the myriad manifestations of racism, this is a terrifically physical novel, as quick and compact as any NBA game ... Salesses’s greatest risk is the way he draws the eclectic elements of this dynamic novel together. It’s not just a matter of interlocking plot points — we’ve seen that many times before. No, what Salesses does here is a remarkable feat of artistic prowess that somehow blends the themes of K-drama with the spectacle of sports drama in a way that resets our frame of reference for the Korean American experience. Indeed, it’s a move that doesn’t seem entirely possible until you see the jump yourself.
Audacious ... Throughout The Sense of Wonder, Salesses refuses to shy away from frank discussions of race or racism, even as he centers the hopes and fears, frustrations and professional triumphs, of his protagonists. Salesses also declines to bench a complex formal device that would, in the hands of a lesser writer, dissolve under pressure as the clock runs out. Above all, the novel chooses itself. Like 'the Wonder' or 'Linsanity,' you may just have to see it to believe.
The dual narration allows Salesses to subtly illustrate the ways his characters’ lives do and do not overlap ... And while there’s plenty of rumination on basketball in an age of celebrity, it’s far from the only concern in this ambitious, expansive work.
Quite simply, it’s an enjoyable, if at times painful, read ... One touch I’d be remiss not to mention is the care Salesses put into chapter titles—themselves a marvel these days when most novel chapters are simply numbered. Their presence feels special, and like an invitation to take the work deeper ... Clever is an apt word to describe The Sense of Wonder, as it’s so richly layered. By merging the worlds of sports and entertainment (and the ways the two overlap), the novel astutely captures the tension between the public and personal lives of sports stars. It manages to be both funny and heartbreaking, and as entertaining as I imagine a K-drama is.
The book, like its characters, finds meaning in this undefinable space between two worlds ... Salesses might not have written his novel for one specific audience, but the book does challenge whatever audience it finds to engage with storytelling styles that do not adhere to their expected standards ... Despite The Sense of Wonder being a work of fiction, it gives us an unusually, and at times unnervingly, intimate portrait of a person who is supposedly the object of intense scrutiny.
Intricate ... Salesses moves, fakes and pivots his narrative with practiced, sly expertise. He cracks inappropriate jokes, waxes philosophical, details (biological and adopted) family dysfunction, confronts cultural history, deciphers the tropes and plots complex dramas, all while deftly exposing pervasive racism and sexism in two of the worst, inequitable industries.
Brilliant and scathing ... 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 ... Salesses fills the page with all the bold, kinetic confidence of an athlete striding onto the court.
Salesses’ story is admirably multilayered, blending smarts about basketball, television, and the varying shades of anti-Asian racism, though he's less persuasive in arguing that incredible plot twists...are more true to life than the tropes suggest. Still, Salesses takes his source material from both basketball and TV seriously, and his storytelling is crisp while avoiding easy frothiness ... A smart, very meta take on love, sports, race, and media.
