Year of the Tiger

An Activist's Life

By: Alice Wong

Narrated by: Nancy Wu

This groundbreaking memoir offers a glimpse into an activist's journey to finding and cultivating community and the continued fight for disability justice, from the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project

In Chinese culture, the tiger is deeply revered for its confidence, passion, ambition, and ferocity. That same fighting spirit resides in Alice Wong.

Drawing on a collection of original essays, previously published work, conversations, graphics, photos, commissioned art by disabled and Asian American artists, and more, Alice uses her unique talent to share an impressionistic scrapbook of her life as an Asian American disabled activist, community organizer, media maker, and dreamer. From her love of food and pop culture to her unwavering commitment to dismantling systemic ableism, Alice shares her thoughts on creativity, access, power, care, the pandemic, mortality, and the future. As a self-described disabled oracle, Alice traces her origins, tells her story, and creates a space for disabled people to be in conversation with one another and the world. Filled with incisive wit, joy, and rage, Wong’s Year of the Tiger will galvanize listeners with big cat energy.

* This audiobook includes a downloadable PDF containing photographs, illustrations and a crossword puzzle from the printed book.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Alice Wong (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Ms. Magazine, Electric Lit

"Essential."—Karla J. Strand, Ms. Magazine

"Phenomenal."—R.O. Kwon, Electric Lit, "62 Books by Women of Color to Read in 2022"

Captivating

I enjoyed this so much bc it shook me and moved me beyond what I thought I new!

unbelievable. one of the best memoirs!

loved this so much! delightful, funny, edgy, challenging our way of seeing the world. this was everything!

Fantastic book

Alice Wong is a wonderful writer and this book had an amazing impact in our book club. The narration by Nancy Wu was noteworthy as well. Thank you!

story is fine, but narration was... not great

A new pet peeve I discovered from listening to this audiobook: I hate it when "2021" is pronounced "two thousand twenty-one", when colloquially, it should be pronounced "twenty twenty-one". The more I heard it, the more annoyed I felt... and alas, there were SO many dates from 2021. Definitely an unexpected distraction from the listening experience.

Also, just generally, I didn't find this particular narrator to be a great fit for a memoir or work of nonfiction, even though I've enjoyed her fiction narrations.

Suck it, ableism!

A must read. There’s so much in this book. I appreciate Alice’s openness, strength, and the sense of humor that made this book such a valuable read.

the ability of the voice actor to connect and bring me in

what a great book. Alice is raw and vulnerable and has a playful yet educational way of bringing understanding to the world of the disabled. I feel like every governed t official should read this book from local to federal levels upon being elected. Imagine that? Maybe then we could achieve more action and better policy. My 17 year old and I read this together and are having some amazing discussions. I highly recommend.

The Future is Alice Wong

This is the book I’ve been waiting for. A fun and interesting book about growing up disabled by a gifted disabled writer. Insightful about ableism, the future of the disability movement and the obstacles and opportunities we face. Alice is one gutsy lady who tells it like she sees it with delightful salty language and humor. She’s a national treasure.

A quintessential disability justice read

Equal parts funny, poignant, and shameless, this book didn’t feel like a “memoir” — it felt like living life with Alice. I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a wonderful collection of essays, podcasts, interviews, moments in time, and even a few recipes. Everything was truthful; authentically crafted not crafted to feel authentic. Intimate and vast. Moving and thought-provoking. A quintessential disability justice read.

Alice Wong is rad

So often, representation in our community is filtered through the lens of other - even when the creator is disabled - books and videos and other media about disabled folks help explain our experience or solicit empathy from people who otherwise couldn’t relate. That’s not what this book is. This book felt like it was for me as a disabled person. Seeing and hearing Alice’s story made me feel seen and heard. I assume this is what it’s like for white, cis, straight, able, neurotypical guys to watch TV - sure, the rest of us can often relate to, understand the perspectives of, and even be moved by the experiences of those dudes on TV, but there’s something more visceral about that experience coming from someone like me.

Eye-opening and compelling memoir

Alice Wong is a gifted storyteller. She is honest and not afraid of expressing what she feels. She doesn’t sugar-coat her anger about ageism, ableism, racism, classism and the way marginalized and vulnerable communities have been ignored, discounted, devalued, deprived, and deprioritized in history and during the pandemic. Her book is illuminating, poignant, informative, humorous, witty, and inventive. She persuasively and successfully advocates for access and inclusion for ALL as love and a basic human right.