Book Review: "Songs on Endless Repeat: Essays and Outtakes" by Anthony Veasna So

In 2021, Anthony Veasna So’s debut, Afterparties, was published to great acclaim. His stories about the children of Cambodian immigrants living in California dealt with issues of culture and sexuality, and were really fantastic. Sadly, however, So never got to see the response to his book; he died of an accidental drug overdose in December 2020. He was only 28.

In addition to his fiction, So wrote and published a number of essays. These were collected, along with a number of linked chapters of unpublished fiction, and recently released as Songs on Endless Repeat. The combination of essays and fiction really demonstrate the depth of his talent and the tragedy of his death.

So’s essays are funny, thought-provoking, fascinating, and emotional. He touches on what the film version of Crazy Rich Asians meant for the depiction of Asians in the movies, his love of and struggles with reading, and in the strongest essay in the book, he reflects on his grief following a close friend’s suicide. (The words are especially poignant in the light of So’s death.) The fiction is chapters from an unpublished novel called Straight Thru Cambotown,” in which three Cambodian-American cousins stand to inherit their late aunt’s loan shark business. It’s funny and insightful.

I had worried that this book would be a collection of writings that So never felt compelled to publish, but that’s not true. It's some really good stuff. With this book and Afterparties, at least his talent and his voice can live on.