Socialist Realism

Published in 2019
168 pages

pdf



Trisha Low is the author of The Compleat Purge (2013). She earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MA in Performance Studies at New York University. She lives in the East Bay.

What is this book about?
“Low writes about her queerness . . . performance art installations that ask identity questions, the socio-economic history of Singapore, and literary analysis of Patricia Highsmith’s novels. To all of these topics, Low applies the full force of her compelling intellect.” —Booklist

“In this book-length essay, the problem of how to account for one’s life comes to the fore.” —Cultura Colectiva

“A book about what it means to try to fulfill our deepest desires.” —Book Riot

When Trisha Low moves west, her journey is motivated by the need to arrive “somewhere better”―someplace utopian, like revolution; or safe, like home; or even clarifying, like identity. Instead, she faces the end of her relationships, a family whose values she has difficulty sharing, and America’s casual racism, sexism, and homophobia. In this book-length essay, the problem of how to account for one’s life comes to the fore―sliding unpredictably between memory, speculation, self-criticism, and art criticism, Low seeks answers that she knows she won’t find. Attempting to reconcile her desires with her radical politics, she asks: do our quests to fulfill our deepest wishes propel us forward, or keep us trapped in the rubble of our deteriorating world?