“Funny, fearless . . . Disorientation acutely inspects the power of the white gaze, academic imperialism, peer rivalry and self-hate” – The Observer
“A gleeful satire about student activism and academic bluster” – The Financial Times
'Witty, knowing and funny . . . If Donna Tartt set the bar for the noirish campus novel, Elaine Hsieh Chou is setting a new bar for sharp, sideways takes on academia” – Evening Standard
Selected for the Financial Times' monthly 'Best Debuts'
“The pleasures of Elaine Hsieh Chou’s campus satire are in high supply . . . In the tradition of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and Elif Batuman’s The Idiot, Chou has written a delightful new chapter of dark academia.”—Vogue
“Disorientation does what great comedies and satires are supposed to do: make you laugh while forcing you to ponder the uncomfortable implications of every punchline . . . Chou’s novel is a promising debut, one that makes this reader look forward to what she will make fun of next.”—Leland Cheuk, The Washington Post
“[Disorientation] is captivating, irresistible, and intensely readable, and what we ultimately come to literature to find . . . It can be difficult to envision a book tackling themes of identity, systemic discrimination, and exclusion as laden with humor, but this book certainly delivers . . . The book expands in scope with each passing page, integrating newer and more experimental forms and swallowing larger subject matter. We begin at the campus novel, at critiques of university hierarchy, and end up considering all of American politics and the evolution of racism, fetishism, and social stratification . . . [W]hat Disorientation shows us is that there is power in the page-turner, that literary merit and a unique, propelling story are not mutually exclusive. Of course, those of us who love reading know this already, but books like this show us that it never hurts to be reminded.”—Malavika Praseed, Chicago Review of Book
“Elaine Hsieh Chou’s debut Disorientation is an inventive campus novel that satirizes academia in an over-the-top, compulsively readable mystery. . . . Ingrid’s identity as a graduate student is central to the novel, and Chou captures this experience expertly—the spirit of department politics, the competition between grad students, the deep sense of insecurity in your research, your future, yourself. Her identity is layered with her identity as a Taiwanese American woman; Ingrid’s experience with her research subject is complicated by her largely white department and her own experience growing up in a white town. It’s this complexity and Ingrid’s personal journey over the course of the academic year that makes Disorientation not only an outrageously enjoyable academic mystery, but also a moving portrayal of self-discovery.”—Ploughshares
“Wickedly funny and knowing”—Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
