Six Degrees of Separation --- from I WANT EVERYTHING to THE EMPEROR OF GLADNESS

It’s time for #6degrees. Start at the same place as all participants, add six books, and see where we all end up.

Six Degrees of Separation. We begin with

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I Want Everything by Dominic Amerena
An acclaimed novelist goes missing after allegations of plagiarism.

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Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
Two friends, both writers, get together to celebrate the completion of a book by one but the day ends with a tragic accidental death, and the stealing of the manuscript by the other.

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Babel by R.F. Kuang
Another book by the same author. This book has a lot of themes but among them is the act of translating words precisely.

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The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
Another book about the precise meaning of words, this time for the inclusion in the English language dictionary. At issue, however, is how words thought to be female words are not included. 

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James by Percival Everett
A retelling of the Huck Finn story, James teaches his children how to speak 'slave talk' when they are around white people. Because Black, like women, don't have the right words or the correct way of speaking them. This book won the National Book Award last year.

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Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
Another National Book Award winner. The Asian actors are forced to speak with an "Asian" accent if they want to get a role in Hollywood. The dominant culture will not allow them to assimilate completely.

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The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
Second generation immigrant from Vietnam, the main character finds challenges assimilating due to generational trauma from his mother and grandmother.

Here we are -- Plagiarism to generational trauma, both bad.

-Anne