Funny Ethnics

By: Shirley Le

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Paperback | 28 February 2023 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
272 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.2 x 15.3 x 2.2

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I looked at the streets of Yagoona through eyes stinging with melted Maybelline liquid liner. Yagoona looked back at me, the wannabe hipster who dreamed of moving to a share house in the inner west, and cackled.

Funny Ethnics catapults readers into the sprawling city-within-a-city that is Western Sydney and the world of Sylvia Nguyen: only child of Vietnamese refugee parents, unexceptional student, exceptional self-doubter. It’s a place where migrants from across the world converge, and identity is a slippery, ever-shifting beast.

Jumping through snapshots of Sylvia’s life – from childhood to something resembling adulthood – this novel is about square pegs and round holes, those who belong and those on the fringes. It’s a funhouse mirror held up to modern Australia revealing suburban fortune tellers, train-carriage preachers, crumbling friendships and bad stand-up comedy.

In Funny Ethnics, Shirley Le uses a coming-of-age tale to reveal a side of Australia so ordinary that it’s entirely bizarre.

About the Author

Shirley Le is a Vietnamese–Australian writer from Western Sydney. She is a member of Sweatshop: Western Sydney Literacy Movement and holds a BA from Macquarie University. Her short stories and essays have been published in SBS Voices, Overland, The Guardian, Meanjin and Another Australia.

Industry Reviews

‘Delicious coming-of-age novel’. Jason Steger, The Age

‘With such swagger, a knack for comedic timing, and an unabashed pride in her Western-suburbs Vietnamese culture, Shirley Le is a writer to watch out for, and this book is an absolute joy to read.’ Alice Pung

‘Le’s debut is a breath of fresh air: astute, unsentimental, and extremely fun. Funny Ethnics pulsates with life and is vital reading for anyone who finds themselves caught at the intersection between identity, class, and family expectation.’ Michelle Law ‘Every page oozes with humour … it’s a warm and incisive read’. – The Big Issue

‘The prose is immersive … Le conjures a delightful time capsule of the 2000s’. – Kill Your Darlings

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