Pop Song

Reviews / Votes

Generous, insightful, and piercingly honest...brings new light to the hidden contours of the heart. -- Alexandra Kleeman, author of Intimations There are so many times in my past when reading Pop Song could have saved my life. It may very well save yours -- Esme Weijun Wang, author of The Collected Schizophrenias Reading Pop Song is like being deep in a midnight email exchange with the first person who broke your heart. Darts between heartbreak and fine art with startling and delightful ease. -- Rowan Hisayo Buchanan Combines the thrilling and agonized travails of her young narrator with the lucid and steady eye of a born critic ... A bold and promising debut -- Melissa Febos, author of Abandon Me Pop Song takes me everywhere I didn't realize I was longing to go ... I am absolutely in love. You will be, too. -- Kristen Radtke, author of Imagine Wanting Only This A roadmap to transcendence, in essays that are as intimate as their subjects -- Tony Tulathimutte, author of Private Citizens A vulnerable, nuanced story about the non-linear process of overcoming heartbreak and letting go. Like your favourite song or first love, Pham's words won't just get stuck in your head, they'll stay there * Bust * Her gaze is ceaselessly empathetic, and it is this generosity that binds the reader to her quest for understanding ... even with all the pain of heartbreak, violence and loss, Pham manages to generate sincere hopefulness * Observer * In a manner reminiscent of contemporaries Leslie Jamison and Jia Tolentino, Pham seamlessly blends the personal and the cultural, the confessional and the critical, the cerebral and the sentimental, to create an exciting and imaginative memoir. * Kirkus * A masterclass in emotional vulnerability ... Pop Song pivots between art and personal narrative with such dexterity that they begin to feel inseparable. * Nylon * Pham takes your head in her hands, looks you in the eyes, and makes her desire known. That's what the journey is all about * Bitch magazine * Pham's attention is delicate and lucid, cleaving to her subjects like film... As accessible as it is smart. Pham's introspection is never solipsistic, but rather an insight into a mind tuned to life's minute rhythms. * Columbia Review * Blends memoir with commentary acutely attuned to various art objects and experiences in the present. Pop Song explores what it means to want a life and to strive for it: * LA Review of Books *