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Memory Piece
In the early 1980s, Giselle Chin, Jackie Ong, and Ellen Ng are three teenagers drawn together by their shared sense of alienation and desire for something different. “Allied in the weirdest parts of themselves,” they envision each other as artistic collaborators and embark on a future defined by freedom and creativity.
By the time they are adults, their dreams are murkier. As a performance artist, Giselle must navigate an elite social world she never conceived of. As a coder thrilled by the internet’s early egalitarian promise, Jackie must contend with its more sinister shift toward monetization and surveillance. And as a community activist, Ellen confronts the increasing gentrification and policing overwhelming her New York City neighborhood. Over time their friendship matures and changes, their definitions of success become complicated, and their sense of what matters evolves.
Moving from the predigital 1980s to the art and tech subcultures of the 1990s to a strikingly imagined portrait of the 2040s, Memory Piece is an innovative and audacious story of three lifelong friends as they strive to build satisfying lives in a world that turns out to be radically different from the one they were promised.
By the time they are adults, their dreams are murkier. As a performance artist, Giselle must navigate an elite social world she never conceived of. As a coder thrilled by the internet’s early egalitarian promise, Jackie must contend with its more sinister shift toward monetization and surveillance. And as a community activist, Ellen confronts the increasing gentrification and policing overwhelming her New York City neighborhood. Over time their friendship matures and changes, their definitions of success become complicated, and their sense of what matters evolves.
Moving from the predigital 1980s to the art and tech subcultures of the 1990s to a strikingly imagined portrait of the 2040s, Memory Piece is an innovative and audacious story of three lifelong friends as they strive to build satisfying lives in a world that turns out to be radically different from the one they were promised.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published March 19, 2024
About the author
Lisa Ko
6 books980 followersHi! I'm the author of MEMORY PIECE (Riverhead, March 2024) and THE LEAVERS (Algonquin, May 2017). THE LEAVERS was a national bestseller that won the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction and was a finalist for the National Book Award. I'm a believer in the long game: I started writing stories when I was 5 years old and published my first book at 41.
Learn more about me and my work on my website.
Learn more about me and my work on my website.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
April 2, 2024
i love reading about artists. that way i can pretend i'm creative and interesting
(thanks to the publisher for the copy / review to come)
(thanks to the publisher for the copy / review to come)
April 8, 2024
This novel wants a lot, and then gradually falls apart: The title suggests that the story mainly deals with memory, rememberance, and the passing of time (a topic with severe personal, societal and cultural relevance, as proven by researchers like Jan Assmann and Aleida Assmann). In fact though, Ko adds everything but the kitchen sink: Performance art à la Marina Abramović, social activism, digital entrepreneurship, social media, environmentalism, gentrification, hypercapitalism, you name it, it's probably somewhere in there. The main plotline follows three girlhood friends mainly through the 80's and 90's, and then jumps forward into a dystopian 2040, by then a late-late-capitalist surveillance state. Through the years, one friend becomes a performance artist, one an activist, one a tech developper.
What Lisa Ko does really, really well is rendering believable characters, what she does poorly is subtlety: Much like in The Leavers, the novel hits us over the head with its viewpoints, so much so that it's rather rude to assume that readers need that much exposition and explanation. The wordy set-up has tested this reviewers patience, and the messaging is so tame and predictable that it hurt my teeth. While the dynamics between the friends frequently work smoothly, the whole thing does not come together and severely lacks momentum.
I see how this might appeal to some book clubs, alas, it didn't appeal to me.
What Lisa Ko does really, really well is rendering believable characters, what she does poorly is subtlety: Much like in The Leavers, the novel hits us over the head with its viewpoints, so much so that it's rather rude to assume that readers need that much exposition and explanation. The wordy set-up has tested this reviewers patience, and the messaging is so tame and predictable that it hurt my teeth. While the dynamics between the friends frequently work smoothly, the whole thing does not come together and severely lacks momentum.
I see how this might appeal to some book clubs, alas, it didn't appeal to me.
March 21, 2024
I read The Leavers from @bookofthemonth when it released in 2017, and I loved it. I’ve been awaiting Ko’s sophomore novel, and here it is. 😍
About the book: “The award-winning author of The Leavers offers a visionary novel of friendship, art, and ambition that asks: What is the value of a meaningful life?”
Memory Piece is unique and different from anything I’ve read. The stories and art intertwine so perfectly here. The story begins in the 1980s when Giselle Chin, Jackie Ong, and Ellen Ng are teenagers. It then moves through the 90s and arrives somewhere in the 2040s. The three become friends as teens, united through what they feel is their weirdness, and they have big dreams.
As adults, Giselle is a performance artist, Jackie works as a coder, and Ellen is a community activist. As different as they all are, their friendship binds them. Very much a character study of each of the women, Lisa Ko delves into the art and tech subcultures. I was fascinated most by Giselle’s work as a performance artist because of her endless creativity. I was going to add because of her commitment as well, but each woman had endless commitment.
Much like a psychological projective test, there’s much to be discovered within the pages of Memory Piece. It’s a book to sit with, dig into, ponder, and revisit because even days after reading, I’m still milling over this thoughtful and thought-provoking story.
I received a free copy of the book.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
About the book: “The award-winning author of The Leavers offers a visionary novel of friendship, art, and ambition that asks: What is the value of a meaningful life?”
Memory Piece is unique and different from anything I’ve read. The stories and art intertwine so perfectly here. The story begins in the 1980s when Giselle Chin, Jackie Ong, and Ellen Ng are teenagers. It then moves through the 90s and arrives somewhere in the 2040s. The three become friends as teens, united through what they feel is their weirdness, and they have big dreams.
As adults, Giselle is a performance artist, Jackie works as a coder, and Ellen is a community activist. As different as they all are, their friendship binds them. Very much a character study of each of the women, Lisa Ko delves into the art and tech subcultures. I was fascinated most by Giselle’s work as a performance artist because of her endless creativity. I was going to add because of her commitment as well, but each woman had endless commitment.
Much like a psychological projective test, there’s much to be discovered within the pages of Memory Piece. It’s a book to sit with, dig into, ponder, and revisit because even days after reading, I’m still milling over this thoughtful and thought-provoking story.
I received a free copy of the book.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
January 22, 2024
The 1980s. New York. Teenagers Giselle Chin, Jackie Ong, and Ellen Ng form an unlikely friendship over their desire for something different. Over time, their friendships evolve, and by 2040, the world has become vastly different from what they've envisioned. How does one live a meaningful life in an ever-changing world? And how do our memories inform our decisions?
Once in a while, I'll come across a book that is so profound yet nuanced the message exists at the edge of my consciousness. MEMORY PIECE is precisely that. Readers' enjoyment of the book will primarily come from one's interpretations.
So while it's been blurbed as a book similar to TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW (Gabrielle Zevin)—the similarities stop at following three childhood friends through decades—I feel that it might find more success in patient readers who are comfortable reading between the lines.
With compelling and expansive writing, MEMORY PIECE explores how seemingly trivial experiences crystallize in our minds, how our memories can be life-changing to carry us through tough times, and its importance in fighting against collective forgetfulness in reminding us never to forget history.
Ko beautifully examines these themes via the trio across class & time and what "memory piece" signifies. Giselle's insight of maximizing one's present to savor memories (present), Jackie's belief in creating a platform for collective memories to build a community (future), and Ellen's view that the memory of solidarity is a source to draw strength from (past) are fascinating, and gave me much to ponder.
MEMORY PIECE is truly a unique & thought-provoking book. Elena and I read this together and ended up having vastly different takeaways! It's the perfect book to buddy-read with your bffs, decode all the hidden meanings, and revisit as you age. For me, MEMORY PIECE is the nostalgia that what is won't last forever and what could've been will never happen. So all we have is each other in the present—our community, unwavering dedication, love & friendship.
Once in a while, I'll come across a book that is so profound yet nuanced the message exists at the edge of my consciousness. MEMORY PIECE is precisely that. Readers' enjoyment of the book will primarily come from one's interpretations.
So while it's been blurbed as a book similar to TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW (Gabrielle Zevin)—the similarities stop at following three childhood friends through decades—I feel that it might find more success in patient readers who are comfortable reading between the lines.
With compelling and expansive writing, MEMORY PIECE explores how seemingly trivial experiences crystallize in our minds, how our memories can be life-changing to carry us through tough times, and its importance in fighting against collective forgetfulness in reminding us never to forget history.
Ko beautifully examines these themes via the trio across class & time and what "memory piece" signifies. Giselle's insight of maximizing one's present to savor memories (present), Jackie's belief in creating a platform for collective memories to build a community (future), and Ellen's view that the memory of solidarity is a source to draw strength from (past) are fascinating, and gave me much to ponder.
MEMORY PIECE is truly a unique & thought-provoking book. Elena and I read this together and ended up having vastly different takeaways! It's the perfect book to buddy-read with your bffs, decode all the hidden meanings, and revisit as you age. For me, MEMORY PIECE is the nostalgia that what is won't last forever and what could've been will never happen. So all we have is each other in the present—our community, unwavering dedication, love & friendship.
November 4, 2023
I've been thinking over Memory Piece for a bit now, and I still haven't gotten to the bottom of it. What an endlessly thought-provoking and beautifully character-driven work from Lisa Ko. She really makes you feel comfortable reading about events in the 1980s and 1990s, only to do an intentionally disturbing 180 with her flash-forward to the 2040s.
I feel like many novels these days that ruminate on the near-future can either become heavy-handed in their techno-panic or just plain goofy (like the literary fiction equivalent of The Jetsons), but I think Ko walked that fine line relatively well. There were a few bumpy elements between her three different POVs, especially in the third act, but she made her point effectively and succinctly.
This is definitely a book you'll want to sit with for a while after reading though. It's a lot to take in — and I mean that in the best way.
I feel like many novels these days that ruminate on the near-future can either become heavy-handed in their techno-panic or just plain goofy (like the literary fiction equivalent of The Jetsons), but I think Ko walked that fine line relatively well. There were a few bumpy elements between her three different POVs, especially in the third act, but she made her point effectively and succinctly.
This is definitely a book you'll want to sit with for a while after reading though. It's a lot to take in — and I mean that in the best way.
Shelved as 'dnf'
March 19, 2024DNF 40%
This novel seems to aim for a vibe reminiscent of Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and I believe it will appeal to fans of that book or of The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker, as well as readers who enjoy authors like Meg Wolitzer or Ann Napolitano. I hate to dnf a book so far in, but I can tell that my feelings for Memory Piece won't change. I'm not drawn to the writing, which is passive, heavily reliant on telling rather than showing, and at times impersonal (not restrained in the way Jhumpa Lahiri's is, but more generic).
The first section of the novel follows Giselle, who aspires to become a performance artist. While the novel appears to articulate why she wants to do this, it doesn't convincingly or deeply explore her motivations, let alone why she chooses to express her creativity through these performance pieces. We're presented with shallow artspeak that could easily have been lifted from artybollocks. Ko's portrayal of New York and its artsy milieu lacks the bite, or even substance, of say Ottessa Moshfegh or Rachel Lyon. One of Giselle’s pieces had the potential for further exploration, but the narrative summarises it in a couple of dull paragraphs.
There's a lot of this: periods of Giselle's life are condensed to a few sentences, or at most a couple of paragraphs. While this may allow the author to cover longer periods of time concisely, it comes at the expense of establishing Giselle's character, her arc, her relationships, and her various environments. It seemed to me as if Ko was cramming too much into too little space.
The novel also heavily relies on 80s/90s nostalgia, which is fine, but not when we learn more about certain trends than about the impact of AIDS, which is reduced to an afterthought in a paragraph mentioning that the 'hippie-grunge thing was over'. This felt glib to me. The few episodes we are actually 'shown' seem to exist solely to make a point, such as when a woman asks Giselle to walk with her, leading Giselle to make a banal observation on the matter (which felt wholly unnecessary given the novel’s target audience…).
Not only were Giselle’s pieces pretentious, but they also served to consolidate my negative impression of performance art. Her art seemed to lack depth, as if she was merely selecting the most extra thing to do without much thought behind her choices (as profound as ai art). Yet, I am supposed to find her and her art intriguing? Sure…
There is nothing subtle about Ko's storytelling, and I mostly felt detached, if occasionally irritated by the content of her story. I wish I could have liked this novel, but it wasn't meant to be. If you enjoy book-clubby books, this might be right up your street. Or, if you were a fan of Zevin's bestseller, do not give this one a miss.
This novel seems to aim for a vibe reminiscent of Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and I believe it will appeal to fans of that book or of The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker, as well as readers who enjoy authors like Meg Wolitzer or Ann Napolitano. I hate to dnf a book so far in, but I can tell that my feelings for Memory Piece won't change. I'm not drawn to the writing, which is passive, heavily reliant on telling rather than showing, and at times impersonal (not restrained in the way Jhumpa Lahiri's is, but more generic).
The first section of the novel follows Giselle, who aspires to become a performance artist. While the novel appears to articulate why she wants to do this, it doesn't convincingly or deeply explore her motivations, let alone why she chooses to express her creativity through these performance pieces. We're presented with shallow artspeak that could easily have been lifted from artybollocks. Ko's portrayal of New York and its artsy milieu lacks the bite, or even substance, of say Ottessa Moshfegh or Rachel Lyon. One of Giselle’s pieces had the potential for further exploration, but the narrative summarises it in a couple of dull paragraphs.
There's a lot of this: periods of Giselle's life are condensed to a few sentences, or at most a couple of paragraphs. While this may allow the author to cover longer periods of time concisely, it comes at the expense of establishing Giselle's character, her arc, her relationships, and her various environments. It seemed to me as if Ko was cramming too much into too little space.
The novel also heavily relies on 80s/90s nostalgia, which is fine, but not when we learn more about certain trends than about the impact of AIDS, which is reduced to an afterthought in a paragraph mentioning that the 'hippie-grunge thing was over'. This felt glib to me. The few episodes we are actually 'shown' seem to exist solely to make a point, such as when a woman asks Giselle to walk with her, leading Giselle to make a banal observation on the matter (which felt wholly unnecessary given the novel’s target audience…).
Not only were Giselle’s pieces pretentious, but they also served to consolidate my negative impression of performance art. Her art seemed to lack depth, as if she was merely selecting the most extra thing to do without much thought behind her choices (as profound as ai art). Yet, I am supposed to find her and her art intriguing? Sure…
There is nothing subtle about Ko's storytelling, and I mostly felt detached, if occasionally irritated by the content of her story. I wish I could have liked this novel, but it wasn't meant to be. If you enjoy book-clubby books, this might be right up your street. Or, if you were a fan of Zevin's bestseller, do not give this one a miss.
April 14, 2024
A great story about female friendship, identity, art, the early Internet and activism. The fast forward to 2040 felt a bit out of place, but apart from that a well paced and very enjoyable read.
Thank you Dialogue and Netgalley UK for the ARC.
Thank you Dialogue and Netgalley UK for the ARC.
December 20, 2023
Absolutely weird and wonderful book, part artist origin story, part dotcom-era nostalgia, part dystopian future. Reminiscent of Ling Ma's Severance, one of my favorites.
January 11, 2024
My feelings about MEMORY PIECE are mixed, but on the whole, I enjoyed it; it was an ambitious and thought-provoking novel about art, friendship, and identity in an evolving world. The writing was vivid and full of emotion, and I found each of the three main characters and their journeys to be unique and compelling.
What held me back from fully loving this (as a person for whom books can, quite dramatically, live or die by their endings) was that last section, narrated by Ellen. The flash-forward from a recognisable early 'aughts to Lisa Ko's vision of a terrifying dystopian future where tech companies dominate society was jarring to say the least, even if it is the most feasible working hypothesis for civilised society's inevitable demise; and ultimately, it just felt like a completely different book to the one I had already been reading for 150+ pages, which, for me, threw the entire narrative preceding it into murky disarray.
What held me back from fully loving this (as a person for whom books can, quite dramatically, live or die by their endings) was that last section, narrated by Ellen. The flash-forward from a recognisable early 'aughts to Lisa Ko's vision of a terrifying dystopian future where tech companies dominate society was jarring to say the least, even if it is the most feasible working hypothesis for civilised society's inevitable demise; and ultimately, it just felt like a completely different book to the one I had already been reading for 150+ pages, which, for me, threw the entire narrative preceding it into murky disarray.
April 6, 2024
Love the concept, but i can't shake the feeling that i read something VERY similar to this before... And better
March 8, 2024
I really enjoyed The Leavers so was excited to get this one, but I didn't like it as well. It centers around Giselle, Jackie, and Ellen--3 girls who meet when they are young and enjoy the title, "masked weirdos, undercover pranksters" that they are given when they make prank phone calls or creep people out at the mall. But each girl's life takes a different turn as the next chapters discuss what is in store for each as they grow up. Initially I was invested, but it became tedious as it went on and by the time we got to Ellen's story, I found myself not caring as much as I should. I will continue to read what Ko writes as she is certainly talented, but this one just wasn't for me.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
March 24, 2024
I loved Lisa Ko's debut novel, The Leavers, and so I was eagerly anticipating her second, Memory Piece - partly because of her track record, and partly because I just loved the blurb. Three Asian-American teenage girls, Giselle, Jackie and Ellen, are drawn together in New York in the early 1980s, then strike out on their own paths: one as a performance artist, one as a coder, and one as a community activist. It's a shame, therefore, that I ended up with such a mixed impression of this one, although there are definitely things to admire about it. The first two-thirds of Memory Piece are familiar literary-fiction fare on fast-forward: we skim across the surface of Giselle's, then Jackie's young adulthoods, without ever pausing to give any moment more weight than another. I was underwhelmed by both women's stories. Giselle's performance art, loosely based on the work of Tehching Hsieh, had potential, but Ko didn't convince me that this character would come up with it nor explore the effect it had on her (living in a mall with no human contact for a year has to change you, but we never really find out if it does). Jackie's story faced the same problems, and by this point, I was also wondering why the relationships between these three are meant to be central to this story when they seem to have little contact as a group. The 1980s and 1990s New York art scene has been done better in Rachel Lyon's Self-Portrait With Boy and Siri Hustvedt's The Blazing World, while the dot-com boom is more vivid in Allegra Goodman's The Cookbook Collector.
But then, Memory Piece does an about-turn. We jump forward to 2043, when Ellen, now in her seventies and still clinging onto the communal house she built in the 1990s, is suddenly telling us, in first person, about the way things are now. Does this twist save Memory Piece? Partly. I appreciated the juxtaposition of the women's early lives with this vision of a difficult future, and how it shed new light on the choices they'd all faced about 'selling out', and what 'selling out' even means when a few big companies own everything. But because so much time has been taken up already with Giselle's and Jackie's life stories, Ko doesn't leave herself space to develop this much past a generic dystopia either. There's absolutely a great novel buried here, but I'm not sure what would have allowed it to get out. 3.5 stars.
I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.
But then, Memory Piece does an about-turn. We jump forward to 2043, when Ellen, now in her seventies and still clinging onto the communal house she built in the 1990s, is suddenly telling us, in first person, about the way things are now. Does this twist save Memory Piece? Partly. I appreciated the juxtaposition of the women's early lives with this vision of a difficult future, and how it shed new light on the choices they'd all faced about 'selling out', and what 'selling out' even means when a few big companies own everything. But because so much time has been taken up already with Giselle's and Jackie's life stories, Ko doesn't leave herself space to develop this much past a generic dystopia either. There's absolutely a great novel buried here, but I'm not sure what would have allowed it to get out. 3.5 stars.
I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.
March 14, 2024
Ko’s writing is the strong point of this book - this story is split into 3 parts where we follow 1 of 3 friends in each part. sometimes this storytelling style can get murky but Ko does a great job of distinguishing the voices of these girls. it’s told in a bit of past/present/future format, and my only issue with the book is that I wished the future section was a little more fleshed out, we kinda jumped right into what the world is like in about 20 years from now - interesting concepts for sure but the potential wasn’t fully reached for me.
April 21, 2024
I will be thinking about this book for a while. That said, it doesn't seem like it accomplished what it intended.
Whatever the concept was, I liked it, but I can't say the same about the execution. Giselle's section was all right, but it went downhill from there. Jackie's section gave me an ick from the start and I didn't care what was happening. Ellen's section was the most interesting but it was also confusing and unrealistic - I don't think 16 years from now is enough time for NYC or the US to devolve into a surveillance state. By the time we got to the epilogue, it seemed like the plot had crumbled apart.
What sticks with me the most is the feeling I got from Ellen's section. The concept of watching the life you knew fade away and there's nothing you can do about - it's haunting.
In general, I spent most of the book feeling like I was missing a chunk of the story. It was the literary equivalent of my solid mechanics class last term: I have no glaring complaints and in some sense I enjoyed it, but I never fully grasped what was happening and followed along mostly due to a sense of obligation. The difference between solid mechanics and this book, though, is that I doubt my lack of understanding is a me problem when it comes to the book. I know that might have been a deliberate choice by the author. Either way, not for me.
Whatever the concept was, I liked it, but I can't say the same about the execution. Giselle's section was all right, but it went downhill from there. Jackie's section gave me an ick from the start and I didn't care what was happening. Ellen's section was the most interesting but it was also confusing and unrealistic - I don't think 16 years from now is enough time for NYC or the US to devolve into a surveillance state. By the time we got to the epilogue, it seemed like the plot had crumbled apart.
What sticks with me the most is the feeling I got from Ellen's section. The concept of watching the life you knew fade away and there's nothing you can do about - it's haunting.
In general, I spent most of the book feeling like I was missing a chunk of the story. It was the literary equivalent of my solid mechanics class last term: I have no glaring complaints and in some sense I enjoyed it, but I never fully grasped what was happening and followed along mostly due to a sense of obligation. The difference between solid mechanics and this book, though, is that I doubt my lack of understanding is a me problem when it comes to the book. I know that might have been a deliberate choice by the author. Either way, not for me.
April 16, 2024
I loved parts of this Sapphic historical fiction romance/literary fiction story more than others. The 80s nostalgia was a lot of fun but I found parts of the story dragged in places and I struggled to stay invested right to the end. Good on audio though and worth a read for sure!
April 17, 2024
Thanks to riverhead books for the gifted arc.
Friendships, art, social justice, the nineties dot-com boom, capitalism, memory, the coming surveillance state(?). All are explored through three childhood friends: Giselle, the performance artist, Jackie, the web developer, and Ellen, the social activist. Meeting at a boring family party in suburban New Jersey in the 1980s, they quickly realize they are just what each is missing. Through the decades the friendships have natural ebbs and flows, but they never lose each other.
I was immediately grabbed by this novel, the setting and characters feeling real and alive. Sure, nostalgia plays a part in my love of this book, but in lesser hands it could have just been a checklist of things we listened to, watched, or interacted with. With the immersive and evocative writing, I can tell Ko was definitely logging on to BBSes or to ICQ along with the rest of us and that she’s straddled that New Jersey suburban life with the grittier NYC streets. While the title references one of Gisele’s works, the book itself works as a Memory Piece, highlighting those pre-internet days and the Y2K scare. This is juxtaposed against what could come in the future as we constantly feed the algorithm and communicate through tech company tethered apps. Will you remember how it all started? Will you notice when things quickly get worse?
In each section we see the characters struggle with staying ‘true’ to themselves and their ideals. Some manage better than others, but you have to ask when are you taking things too far; when was it not worth it; is it too late to get back? Of course they all define their truths and ideals differently, just as they look at memory from different perspectives. Are memories meant to be burned away; do our collective memories combine to make up a new story; or do we look to the past to tell us how to live now? The structure allows us to see how each character sees themselves (and their truth) and how they see each other; they are richly drawn and complex.
Memory Piece is a multi-layered novel that manages to be both a quiet character study and a mirror to our vast world.
Friendships, art, social justice, the nineties dot-com boom, capitalism, memory, the coming surveillance state(?). All are explored through three childhood friends: Giselle, the performance artist, Jackie, the web developer, and Ellen, the social activist. Meeting at a boring family party in suburban New Jersey in the 1980s, they quickly realize they are just what each is missing. Through the decades the friendships have natural ebbs and flows, but they never lose each other.
I was immediately grabbed by this novel, the setting and characters feeling real and alive. Sure, nostalgia plays a part in my love of this book, but in lesser hands it could have just been a checklist of things we listened to, watched, or interacted with. With the immersive and evocative writing, I can tell Ko was definitely logging on to BBSes or to ICQ along with the rest of us and that she’s straddled that New Jersey suburban life with the grittier NYC streets. While the title references one of Gisele’s works, the book itself works as a Memory Piece, highlighting those pre-internet days and the Y2K scare. This is juxtaposed against what could come in the future as we constantly feed the algorithm and communicate through tech company tethered apps. Will you remember how it all started? Will you notice when things quickly get worse?
In each section we see the characters struggle with staying ‘true’ to themselves and their ideals. Some manage better than others, but you have to ask when are you taking things too far; when was it not worth it; is it too late to get back? Of course they all define their truths and ideals differently, just as they look at memory from different perspectives. Are memories meant to be burned away; do our collective memories combine to make up a new story; or do we look to the past to tell us how to live now? The structure allows us to see how each character sees themselves (and their truth) and how they see each other; they are richly drawn and complex.
Memory Piece is a multi-layered novel that manages to be both a quiet character study and a mirror to our vast world.
January 5, 2024
our 3 girls (giselle, performance & visual/multimedia artist; jackie, programmer; ellen, housing & labor activist) cross and uncross each other's lifepaths and are always entangled, seeking each other's approval and purpose, unconsciously succumbing to each other's influence as their individual lives unfold in an encroaching technocratic dystopia. they inhabit vastly different profiles in our same crumbling world, and the junctions dovetailing their lives (which are so clean & neat they seem almost cartoonish, but that honestly makes them all the more real) and the differences between their material welfares take us to their most interesting points of division and reintegration.
ko asks, often outright, what the value of art is vs the value of an artist's life, and what role art has in creating life and vv., and what the difference between art and performance is, and what a performance or artistic reflection of "the truth" or a way of living/being can do to propel lifeways under threat of extinction. the book reaches a pretty conclusive and timely answer as we barrel through the decades, though i think it very noticeably doesn't wrangle with climate change.
i'm saving anything smart & heartfelt i have to say about this book for the magazine profile i'm writing but here are some non-spoiler quotes under a list of summative reasons i loved it:
1) evocative prose. some absolute bangers, especially when ko describes new york with a lot of realistic love
“An early-morning thunderstorm leaves the streets smelling clean and metallic until the August heat returns and bakes the garbage again.”
“The skyline, the river, the necklace of the Brooklyn Bridge. Chemical moonglow, car horns and shouting, what joy.”
"Love with vigilance. Love but with sharps."
2) humor !!
“Ellen says the politics are corny and so are the white boys, but the music? It’s what rage and loathing would be if you regurgitated it into sound. It’s the sound of regurgitation, all right.”
3) zero patience for the neoliberal capture of asian american identity politics
“...insinuating that there was something inherently Asian about working with time and discipline. This made me laugh, because Mall Piece came out of her growing up in New Jersey. I used to call Giselle a Bad Asian, partly to mess with her. At the time, I’d already outgrown the limitations of Asian American identity as a political home.”
“We learned and unlearned. I choose [x] over [y], the [z] over marriage and middle-class-assimilationist Asian America, kids whose sole protest was complaining about the lack of Asian actors in a Hollywood movie. I never regretted it.”
“I had thought that America’s obsession with forgetting its history, the whitewashing of its crimes, was a part of the crimes themselves, but there was another side of it, self-preservation. Yet the evidence couldn’t be ignored; it was here in our bodies.”
4) implicitly (and then rather explicitly) asks the question: what will save us? and i don't think it's a spoiler to say community, in all its forms, and with that the safeguarding of memory, to avoid: "An artificial, inaccurate version of the past, but when it was the sole version available, what else was there to compare it to? The recreation was assumed as truth."
“You could spend a lifetime subsisting on the fumes of your own memory. The past was an easy drug to fall into, especially when it contained love. We loved the dead and disappeared because, in their loss and immobility, they remained always at their best, unable to hurt us any more than they already had.”
“It was history while it happened; it was already over.”
ko asks, often outright, what the value of art is vs the value of an artist's life, and what role art has in creating life and vv., and what the difference between art and performance is, and what a performance or artistic reflection of "the truth" or a way of living/being can do to propel lifeways under threat of extinction. the book reaches a pretty conclusive and timely answer as we barrel through the decades, though i think it very noticeably doesn't wrangle with climate change.
i'm saving anything smart & heartfelt i have to say about this book for the magazine profile i'm writing but here are some non-spoiler quotes under a list of summative reasons i loved it:
1) evocative prose. some absolute bangers, especially when ko describes new york with a lot of realistic love
“An early-morning thunderstorm leaves the streets smelling clean and metallic until the August heat returns and bakes the garbage again.”
“The skyline, the river, the necklace of the Brooklyn Bridge. Chemical moonglow, car horns and shouting, what joy.”
"Love with vigilance. Love but with sharps."
2) humor !!
“Ellen says the politics are corny and so are the white boys, but the music? It’s what rage and loathing would be if you regurgitated it into sound. It’s the sound of regurgitation, all right.”
3) zero patience for the neoliberal capture of asian american identity politics
“...insinuating that there was something inherently Asian about working with time and discipline. This made me laugh, because Mall Piece came out of her growing up in New Jersey. I used to call Giselle a Bad Asian, partly to mess with her. At the time, I’d already outgrown the limitations of Asian American identity as a political home.”
“We learned and unlearned. I choose [x] over [y], the [z] over marriage and middle-class-assimilationist Asian America, kids whose sole protest was complaining about the lack of Asian actors in a Hollywood movie. I never regretted it.”
“I had thought that America’s obsession with forgetting its history, the whitewashing of its crimes, was a part of the crimes themselves, but there was another side of it, self-preservation. Yet the evidence couldn’t be ignored; it was here in our bodies.”
4) implicitly (and then rather explicitly) asks the question: what will save us? and i don't think it's a spoiler to say community, in all its forms, and with that the safeguarding of memory, to avoid: "An artificial, inaccurate version of the past, but when it was the sole version available, what else was there to compare it to? The recreation was assumed as truth."
“You could spend a lifetime subsisting on the fumes of your own memory. The past was an easy drug to fall into, especially when it contained love. We loved the dead and disappeared because, in their loss and immobility, they remained always at their best, unable to hurt us any more than they already had.”
“It was history while it happened; it was already over.”
September 13, 2023
3.75 - rounded up.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy!
This was a very well-written and interesting look at friendships that have evolved from the 90s into a dystopian (but realistic) future. I definitely wasn't expecting the futuristic element once I got to it, but it wasn't an unwelcome surprise. I enjoyed how the book moved through time as we saw the three friends at separate times, but they were all tied together through memories. The artistic elements were very well thought out and having the final Memory Piece incorporated into the novel was very satisfying. Art as work and work as art.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy!
This was a very well-written and interesting look at friendships that have evolved from the 90s into a dystopian (but realistic) future. I definitely wasn't expecting the futuristic element once I got to it, but it wasn't an unwelcome surprise. I enjoyed how the book moved through time as we saw the three friends at separate times, but they were all tied together through memories. The artistic elements were very well thought out and having the final Memory Piece incorporated into the novel was very satisfying. Art as work and work as art.
March 6, 2024
Memory Piece is a tale of friendship and growth that transcends time, decade after decade, trend after trend. I am so thankful to Riverhead Books, Lisa Ko, and PRH Audio for the #free audiobook (#PRHPartner) before this baby hits shelves on March 19, 2024.
Giselle, Jackie, and Ellen met in a Chinese school in the mid-80s. They stood by each other's sides to fight against racist bullies, the trials of being a preteen, and just trying to get by.
Fast forward to the future, their dreams for adulthood have grown, and their friendship has withered a bit, but that's just life. Through the ever-evolving lapses of technology, art, and media, readers get to watch these girls transform into their actual beings, and it's simply beautiful.
Giselle, Jackie, and Ellen met in a Chinese school in the mid-80s. They stood by each other's sides to fight against racist bullies, the trials of being a preteen, and just trying to get by.
Fast forward to the future, their dreams for adulthood have grown, and their friendship has withered a bit, but that's just life. Through the ever-evolving lapses of technology, art, and media, readers get to watch these girls transform into their actual beings, and it's simply beautiful.
March 11, 2024
[Copy provided by publisher]
READ IF YOU LIKE...
• Enduring friendships
• 1990s-early 2000s
• Watching how society evolves, for better or worse
I THOUGHT IT WAS...
An extremely thought-provoking novel that explores what gives life meaning and significance in a rapidly changing world. Giselle Chin is a performance artist, trying to make sense of life through acts lauded as ground-breaking statements. Jackie Ong works in corporate tech, though her passion lies in her free platform where people can create digital diaries of their lives. Ellen Ng is an activist, squatting in an abandoned building while building a community. All three women live incredibly different lives but impact each other in lasting ways, seen and felt through a future technological dystopia.
This novel is very hard to wrap your head around, because there is so much in it and to it, and while some of it didn't quite work for me, a lot also did. To get the most out of this novel, read it when you're ready to think deeply and engage. Because when I did, I was really impressed by what I found.
I feel like this book is going to convey different things to different readers. To me, it made me think about how we live in a world where things pursued with the utmost earnestness, passion, or out of pure curiosity still get turned into commodities, monetized, sold. It also sent a bolt through me when I realized that -- like the characters in this book -- I'm one the last generations that knew of a time before the internet, when the only way you remembered things was in analog -- written records, physical photo albums. Now, we record digitally in a way that can be publicly viewed, tracked, and data-mined.
But, crucially, this novel isn't here to tell us to stop doing that. If anything, it emphasizes how important it is for us to preserve, make a record, and archive moments from our lives as we live it now. Because if our future goes to shit, we'll need those records to show future generations that things can be different, that they were different, and that there's hope that things can be different again.
READ IF YOU LIKE...
• Enduring friendships
• 1990s-early 2000s
• Watching how society evolves, for better or worse
I THOUGHT IT WAS...
An extremely thought-provoking novel that explores what gives life meaning and significance in a rapidly changing world. Giselle Chin is a performance artist, trying to make sense of life through acts lauded as ground-breaking statements. Jackie Ong works in corporate tech, though her passion lies in her free platform where people can create digital diaries of their lives. Ellen Ng is an activist, squatting in an abandoned building while building a community. All three women live incredibly different lives but impact each other in lasting ways, seen and felt through a future technological dystopia.
This novel is very hard to wrap your head around, because there is so much in it and to it, and while some of it didn't quite work for me, a lot also did. To get the most out of this novel, read it when you're ready to think deeply and engage. Because when I did, I was really impressed by what I found.
I feel like this book is going to convey different things to different readers. To me, it made me think about how we live in a world where things pursued with the utmost earnestness, passion, or out of pure curiosity still get turned into commodities, monetized, sold. It also sent a bolt through me when I realized that -- like the characters in this book -- I'm one the last generations that knew of a time before the internet, when the only way you remembered things was in analog -- written records, physical photo albums. Now, we record digitally in a way that can be publicly viewed, tracked, and data-mined.
But, crucially, this novel isn't here to tell us to stop doing that. If anything, it emphasizes how important it is for us to preserve, make a record, and archive moments from our lives as we live it now. Because if our future goes to shit, we'll need those records to show future generations that things can be different, that they were different, and that there's hope that things can be different again.
January 15, 2024
From pre-digital 1980s to technology rise in 1990s to a dystopian future in 2040s, this book revolves around three lifelong friends - Giselle, Jackie and Ellen - entangled since they were little in a Chinese community.
Told from three POVs, Giselle Chin embodies the urgency of youth who flourishes into a memorable piece. Both discovering and escaping herself, she leads readers into a journey of artistry, in which one views in her art projects an opportunity to express oneself, recognizing the moments of boldness and creativity. Jackie Ong allows a more profound look into the challenges of tech industry and fast forwarding to Ellen Ng, Ellen's absolution invites certain introspection.
With fluid prose, Ko excels at analyzing the role and power of memory in a narrative which mundane turns fabulous. In this character-driven novel, one character dissolves into another - they are written with intention, delivering selective nostalgia that is effective at making one focused on the story. The three perspectives paint a powerful meditation on memory, a closure that whispers melancholy within the passages. Distant at times, the dense sequence of events distracted from a deeper emotional engagement, however it doesn't mean that its impact is missing.
Where does the memory go? It is ubiquitous, in all the places at once. MEMORY PIECE is a thought-provoking novel with dazzling originality. Such ambitious and innovative approach on friendship, art and memory makes it a mature story that will stay for a while.
[ I received an ARC from the publisher - Riverhead books . All thoughts are my own ]
Told from three POVs, Giselle Chin embodies the urgency of youth who flourishes into a memorable piece. Both discovering and escaping herself, she leads readers into a journey of artistry, in which one views in her art projects an opportunity to express oneself, recognizing the moments of boldness and creativity. Jackie Ong allows a more profound look into the challenges of tech industry and fast forwarding to Ellen Ng, Ellen's absolution invites certain introspection.
With fluid prose, Ko excels at analyzing the role and power of memory in a narrative which mundane turns fabulous. In this character-driven novel, one character dissolves into another - they are written with intention, delivering selective nostalgia that is effective at making one focused on the story. The three perspectives paint a powerful meditation on memory, a closure that whispers melancholy within the passages. Distant at times, the dense sequence of events distracted from a deeper emotional engagement, however it doesn't mean that its impact is missing.
Where does the memory go? It is ubiquitous, in all the places at once. MEMORY PIECE is a thought-provoking novel with dazzling originality. Such ambitious and innovative approach on friendship, art and memory makes it a mature story that will stay for a while.
[ I received an ARC from the publisher - Riverhead books . All thoughts are my own ]
April 1, 2024
At times a puzzling read structure-wise, I overall enjoyed and appreciate Ko inviting me to explore a less traditional narrative of three friends over the course of their lives - at adolescence (early 80s), early adulthood (late 90s/early 00s), and late adulthood (2040s).
The characters, save possibly for queer techy Jackie, are less traditional too: Gizelle is a successful performance artist who makes us consider what is "work" (most of her pieces are unpaid, unseen, for outsiders conceptual, for her about self-inquiry) and Ellen is a squatter who defies capitalism's pulls and in a dystopian (not far off) 2040 has memories of better times when a different future was possible.
Just like The Leavers, I have a feeling the characters of this novel and the social commentary it provides will stay with me.
It's hard not to compare this to Biography of X when it comes to archive, art, and the ways society unfolds. Or the 2040 portion to Severance or Parable of the Sower when it comes to dystopian times. While this book, at this point (I just finished and sometimes a book marinating in my mind brings more clarity), does not feel as well crafted as those, it does bring all of those elements together along with a strong commentary of the role of economic class. It also adds, which seems to be the overarching takeaway of Memory Piece, how friendship is at the core of our lives and how it morphs over the years. I think if this were somehow more of an overt focus for the three [and archival images be included throughout], the novel would feel more complete.
The characters, save possibly for queer techy Jackie, are less traditional too: Gizelle is a successful performance artist who makes us consider what is "work" (most of her pieces are unpaid, unseen, for outsiders conceptual, for her about self-inquiry) and Ellen is a squatter who defies capitalism's pulls and in a dystopian (not far off) 2040 has memories of better times when a different future was possible.
Just like The Leavers, I have a feeling the characters of this novel and the social commentary it provides will stay with me.
It's hard not to compare this to Biography of X when it comes to archive, art, and the ways society unfolds. Or the 2040 portion to Severance or Parable of the Sower when it comes to dystopian times. While this book, at this point (I just finished and sometimes a book marinating in my mind brings more clarity), does not feel as well crafted as those, it does bring all of those elements together along with a strong commentary of the role of economic class. It also adds, which seems to be the overarching takeaway of Memory Piece, how friendship is at the core of our lives and how it morphs over the years. I think if this were somehow more of an overt focus for the three [and archival images be included throughout], the novel would feel more complete.
March 20, 2024
Thank you Riverhead Books for my #gifted ARC and thank you PRH Audio for my #gifted listening copy of Memory Piece! #PRHAInfluencer #PRHAudioPartner #PRHPartner #riverheadbooks
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐊𝐨
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐄𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐧𝐠
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟏𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒
★★★★★
Memory Piece is a must read for fans of literary fiction! This book would make a PERFECT book club or buddy read selection. I loved the theme of friendship and how this unique novel was presented in three POVs over multiple time periods. The way Memory Piece was written is so dynamic and truly a masterpiece. Believe me when I tell you this novel will leave you thinking about what you read long after you finish the last page.
🎧I started reading this book with my eyes, but once I realized Eunice Wong was narrating the audiobook, I quickly made the switch. Wong is one of my favorites, and she lived up to my high expectations! If you enjoy audiobooks, do yourself a favor and listen to this one. Wong has once again delivered a top notch performance.
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐊𝐨
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐄𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐧𝐠
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟏𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒
★★★★★
Memory Piece is a must read for fans of literary fiction! This book would make a PERFECT book club or buddy read selection. I loved the theme of friendship and how this unique novel was presented in three POVs over multiple time periods. The way Memory Piece was written is so dynamic and truly a masterpiece. Believe me when I tell you this novel will leave you thinking about what you read long after you finish the last page.
🎧I started reading this book with my eyes, but once I realized Eunice Wong was narrating the audiobook, I quickly made the switch. Wong is one of my favorites, and she lived up to my high expectations! If you enjoy audiobooks, do yourself a favor and listen to this one. Wong has once again delivered a top notch performance.
April 4, 2024
An exploration of art, tech, and activism through the eyes of three Asian-American friends who meet in the 80s, I absolutely resonated with this book. It takes us from the vividly rendered suburban New Jersey to New York in the 90s (everyone who knows me knows I crave any and all media about my hometown in the 90s!) and follows how a changing society warps each of the three protagonists.
Ko's writing is clear-eyed and sharp, and this book is much cooler in tone than her debut. There are gorgeous, prickly sentences, and the changing city and sands of time provide the connective tissue between the three sections of the book in a way that surprised me.
I loved this exploration of technology, surveillance, art, and the power of holding onto memories in our digital dark age.
Ko's writing is clear-eyed and sharp, and this book is much cooler in tone than her debut. There are gorgeous, prickly sentences, and the changing city and sands of time provide the connective tissue between the three sections of the book in a way that surprised me.
I loved this exploration of technology, surveillance, art, and the power of holding onto memories in our digital dark age.
February 3, 2024
Wow. This was stunning. Compelling, challenging, inspiring. Ko perfectly captures these characters as they evolve from adolescents to elders. I was fully engaged with every section of the novel, and I loved seeing the ways each character lived up to their values (or attempted to, or wished they could have) as the world changed around them. Ko’s imagined future felt terrifyingly possible. I’m going to be thinking about this one for a while. Thank you to NetGalley and Riverhead Books for a digital ARC.
April 7, 2024
Singular. One of the best books about friendship that I’ve ever read. Fantastic, innovative, ambitious, non linear, and imaginative. I will make it my annual goal to get this book into as many hands as possible.
April 3, 2024
So perfectly resonant and chilling—I can’t stop thinking about this book.
March 22, 2024
this had some intriguing quotes, but i think it was trying to tackle a lot of things at once and it just got to be a bit too much. i liked the beginning but i did not enjoy ellen’s part at the end nor did i really like any of the characters very much. also was kinda confused towards the end which always annoys me
March 30, 2024
Memory Piece tells the story of an enduring friendship that begins when three tweenage Asian-American girls nonchalantly walk into someone else's barbecue and help themselves to burgers. This minor transgression, committed on a whim and by unspoken agreement, sets the foundation and the pattern for their friendship. Each section of the book leads us through the life of one of these girls, each covering a different time period and showing how their lives continue to overlap and diverge.
Giselle Chin becomes a performance artist, helped by Jackie Ong - the coder whose photographs are often the sole artifacts of Giselle's earliest pieces. Giselle's work is also supported by Ellen Ng, who sees it as a sort of analog to her own activism and encourages both Giselle and Jackie to take part in demonstrations and other acts of rebellion. Jackie and Ellen are sometime squatmates and lovers, even though one is a techie and the other is intent on building a life that's community-based and outside any sort of "system".
The book moves between the '80's and a dystopic near-future (it elides the precipitating events but drops clues enough to let the reader form their own opinion). Giselle, Jackie, and Ellen are the constants, their faith in and support of one another an unshakeable bedrock even through times where they have no contact with one another.
There's a lot going on here in terms of themes - art, tech, connection, surveillance, greed, the gig economy, community, memory (and who owns it) - and it may have felt overstuffed as a result, but the friendship that's the connecting thread of all these themes is so well-drawn that it all works. I enjoyed spending time with Giselle, Jackie, Ellen (and her friends from Sola) and am still thinking about what it means to hold the truth of your friends strong in the face of other people's versions of them.
Giselle Chin becomes a performance artist, helped by Jackie Ong - the coder whose photographs are often the sole artifacts of Giselle's earliest pieces. Giselle's work is also supported by Ellen Ng, who sees it as a sort of analog to her own activism and encourages both Giselle and Jackie to take part in demonstrations and other acts of rebellion. Jackie and Ellen are sometime squatmates and lovers, even though one is a techie and the other is intent on building a life that's community-based and outside any sort of "system".
The book moves between the '80's and a dystopic near-future (it elides the precipitating events but drops clues enough to let the reader form their own opinion). Giselle, Jackie, and Ellen are the constants, their faith in and support of one another an unshakeable bedrock even through times where they have no contact with one another.
There's a lot going on here in terms of themes - art, tech, connection, surveillance, greed, the gig economy, community, memory (and who owns it) - and it may have felt overstuffed as a result, but the friendship that's the connecting thread of all these themes is so well-drawn that it all works. I enjoyed spending time with Giselle, Jackie, Ellen (and her friends from Sola) and am still thinking about what it means to hold the truth of your friends strong in the face of other people's versions of them.
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