Audiobook Sample

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  • Title: Yellowface: A Novel
  • Author: R. F. Kuang
  • Narrator: Helen Laser
  • Length: 08:39:15
  • Version: Abridged
  • Release Date: 16/05/2023
  • Publisher: HarperAudio
  • Genre: Fiction & Literature, Literary Fiction, Satire, Asian American Literature
  • ISBN13: 9.78E+12
Hey bookworms and culture vultures, Sophie Bennett here – your guide through the wilds of contemporary storytelling.

Let me tell you why “Yellowface” had me canceling plans to binge-listen. R.F. Kuang’s latest isn’t just a novel – it’s a cultural grenade rolled into the publishing industry’s lap, and Helen Laser’s narration is the perfect fuse. As someone who analyzes digital storytelling for a living, I was floored by how Kuang weaponizes the audiobook format to amplify her satire.

Remember when I compared five formats of “Project Hail Mary” for my podcast? “Yellowface” proves literary fiction can be just as format-dependent. Laser’s performance as June Hayward – a struggling writer who steals her dead rival’s manuscript – is a masterclass in unreliable narration. Her slightly nasal, perpetually defensive tone makes you viscerally experience June’s desperation. When she adopts an affected ‘literary’ voice to read the stolen novel’s passages, the cognitive dissonance is delicious.

The novel’s exploration of cultural appropriation hits differently in audio. Kuang forces us to sit uncomfortably with June’s internal monologue justifying her theft (‘Doesn’t this history deserve to be told, whoever the teller?’). Laser delivers these lines with such earnest self-delusion that I found myself yelling rebuttals at my AirPods during my morning commute – earning concerned looks from fellow subway riders.

What fascinates me most is how Kuang updates the ‘stolen manuscript’ trope for the social media age. The scenes where June obsessively checks Goodreads reviews and Twitter backlash had me flashing back to my “Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” BookTok analysis. Laser’s frantic pacing during these sections perfectly mirrors our modern dopamine-hit addiction to validation.

As a digital culture critic, I appreciate how Kuang satirizes publishing’s diversity optics. The scene where June’s publisher rebrands her with an ‘ambiguously ethnic’ author photo? Laser delivers the marketing team’s dialogue with such pitch-perfect corporate wokeness that I had to pause from laughing. It’s “American Psycho” meets Bookstagram.

The audiobook isn’t perfect – some secondary characters blend together vocally, and the social media interludes work better visually. But these are quibbles. Kuang and Laser have created that rare audiobook that enhances rather than merely adapts the text.

For listeners who enjoyed “Babel”‘s thematic depth but wanted more bite, this is Kuang at her most viciously entertaining. It’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley” meets a Twitter drag thread, with narration that makes you complicit in June’s crimes. Perfect for fans of Patricia Highsmith’s psychological tension or the dark humor of “My Year of Rest and Relaxation”.

Still screaming about this in my DMs @FutureOfStories – come debate June’s crimes with me!
Sophie Bennett