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You've Changed
You've Changed: Fake Accents, Feminism, and Other Comedies from Myanmar | Pyae Moe Thet War
16 posts | 2 read | 14 to read
In this electric debut essay collection, a Myanmar millennial playfully challenges us to examine the knots and complications of immigration status, eating habits, Western feminism in an Asian home, and more, guiding us toward an expansive idea of what it means to be a Myanmar woman today What does it mean to be a Myanmar persona baker, swimmer, writer and womanon your own terms rather than those of the colonizer? These irreverent yet vulnerable essays ask that question by tracing the journey of a woman who spent her young adulthood in the US and UK before returning to her hometown of Yangon, where she still lives. In Youve Changed, Pyae takes on romantic relationships whose futures are determined by different passports, switching accents in American taxis, the patriarchal Myanmar concept of hpone which governs how laundry is done, swimming as refuge from mental illness, pleasure and shame around eating rice, and baking in a kitchen far from white Americas imagination. Throughout, she wrestles with the question of who she isa Myanmar woman in the West, a Western-educated person in Yangon, a writer who refuses to be labeled a race writer. With intimate and funny prose, Pyae shows how the truth of identity may be found not in stability, but in its gloriously unsettled nature.
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blurb
kspenmoll
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1. Favorite fruits: concord grapes in season, Rainer cherries,various varieties of apples-in season now! I could go on & on- love all fruit!

2. Tagged memoir is by a Myanmar writer, about identity, migration, intergenerational expectations & rice! She eats with friends, her aunts, her parents, family. Highly recommend.

Tagging all Littens!

TheSpineView Thanks for playing! 1w
37 likes1 comment
blurb
kspenmoll
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#12booksof2022 #June #July
You‘ve Change is a memoir/essays written with humor, passion, grace,by Pyae Moe Thet War.Born in Myanmar,& educated in English schools,she struggles with pathos & laughter to integrate two very disparate worlds.

Her Hidden Genius is historical fiction at its best. Rosiland Franklin used an xray process that resulted in her discovery of the double helix.But in 1962 when the Pulitzer Prize was awarded,her work was hidden.

Andrew65 Love the sound of Her Hidden Genius. 2y
62 likes1 stack add1 comment
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kspenmoll
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#alphabetgame #U
I learned so much about this author who is caught between 2 worlds:Myanmar culture & western culture. Her writing is beautiful & honest.The situations she finds herself in are heartfelt & comical.She writes of simple daily happenings like doing laundry & how both cultures approach this task.Her essays also contain bigger truths such as identity, racism, family, friendship. Highly recommended! These essays stayed with me for ages.

rockpools Instantly stacked - this sounds great! 2y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks So pretty 💙 2y
ShelleyBooksie Gorgeous photo 2y
67 likes2 stack adds3 comments
blurb
kspenmoll
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These are the books I read & finished for ##joysofjune #readathon @Andrew65 thanks so much for sponsoring this readathon -I really enjoy checking in with people and seeing what everyone is reading! Really appreciate your organizing these!

Crazeedi You did great Katherine!❤ 2y
kspenmoll @Crazeedi Thanks Diane. 💕 Lots of escapist reading ! (edited) 2y
58 likes2 comments
review
kspenmoll
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Pickpick

“Fake Accents,Feminism, and Other Comedies from Myanmar”-The subtitle of this book of linked essays says it all.I read each essay one at time;I could savor each one that way.So much packed in here-essays around daily life such as doing laundry,baking,swimming,tongue twisters,Myanglish.She digs in deep with humor so each essay speaks to Myanmar culture & social mores,a Buddhist upbringing,identity when straddling the East & West,immigration,racism.

Andrew65 Doing great 👏👏👏 2y
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kspenmoll
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I might as well quote the whole book…!
#marriage #immigration #systemicracism #visa #manmadeline

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kspenmoll
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For Pyae Mor Thet War, the massive amounts of paperwork & factual proof needed to marry in the UK was a huge insurmountable hurdle, taking years & money. #marriage #identity #racism #immigration

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kspenmoll
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1)🧑🏽‍💻🧇🍚🫖🥡🧂🩹🛀🏾📕👁🎓👑🍰🥣🏊🏼‍♂️

2) Northern Spy needs a sequel.

3) 4 stars for Death Brings a Shadow, by Rosemary Simpson.

Anyone join in the fun! #wonderoudwednesday

Eggs Love emoji narrative 💗📚👏🏻 2y
39 likes1 comment
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kspenmoll
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I read the author‘s essay, “HTAMIN SAR CHIN TAE”, this morning. She talks about how rice is “ seeped” in Mynmar‘s language, a meal MUST include big plates of rice. This essay includes themes of family, love, comfort, straddling Mynmar‘s culture & Western culture, fat shaming, food as love. The author states:”To be Mynmar means to love rice.During the 2021 coup, people ran out to get rice, salt& oil-staples they could not live without.
#porchlife

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 💙💙💙 2y
65 likes1 stack add1 comment
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kspenmoll
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tokorowilliamwallace Yay, fresh breeze afternoon porch life! 2y
68 likes1 stack add2 comments
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kspenmoll
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In The essay I read today,”A Baking Essay I Need To Write,” Payae Moe Thet War talks about her love & expertise at baking,something that is non existent in Myanmar‘s cuisine.Myanmar‘s cooks focus on “winging things and tasting…”,while baking takes precision & access to dairy (which doesn‘t keep in Myanmar due to inconsistent electricity hence lack of refrigerators). Aluminum pots & a stove top is all that is needed. I am so loving this book!!!!

50 likes1 stack add
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kspenmoll
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#bookreport
Finished all these this week, except for You‘ve Changed. Reading a chapter a week. I am in quarantine so I read, read, read. 📚📚📚

Cinfhen Oh no!!! Hope you‘re feeling well!!! Glad you‘re able to use the time for reading 💜 2y
kspenmoll @Cinfhen I am so much better today! Tested negative yahoo so going back to work Monday. Will take it easy though as my MD asked me to do. Thanks for your caring! 🥰 2y
Cinfhen Glad you‘re able to return to work! Im sure the school year is just about over 😅 2y
59 likes1 stack add3 comments
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kspenmoll
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I have been reading one essay at a time,and thoroughly enjoying each one.Her commentaries on her country (Myanmar),her culture, western influences,women, family, laundry(the Myanmar way) are funny, startling, informative,engaging, thought provoking…

56 likes2 stack adds
review
Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

You‘ve Changed is an essay collection by a woman from Myanmar noodling on race, family, language, and more. It‘s completely delightful, balancing a typically lighthearted tone with meaty topics. Pyae comes across as thoughtful and authentic, and the editing is deft, as I feel she really shines through. Loved it.

Leftcoastzen 👏🐶 2y
54 likes1 comment
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kspenmoll
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#MarvelousMay #readathon #report #May14toMay15
Lost Among the Living-78 pp; People of the Book-66pp-I had to stop when in the middle of the Inquisition ch- although I knew all about its history, it was so well written that I felt like I was right there in that century & I felt nauseous… A Death in Seascape House- 3 ch. #audio; You‘ve Changed-20 pp; Fool Me Once-368 pp-the whole book.
Back to Work tomorrow…

blurb
kspenmoll
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The first essay,A Me by Any Other Name,is thought provoking.It is a lesson in the common repetition of names in Myanmar culture.The author herself is Pyae Pyae,while her given name is Pyae Moe Thet War. Moe has a connection to her Dad;Thet to her mom.War is from a palm reader,who got the name in the stars.It also explores the pressures she endured in HS to change her name to a Western,English name.She refused, wanting to preserve her culture.

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