Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life

"While very much the story of one life, Year of the Tiger is also about collective power and collective responsibility ..."

"A mixed-media collection of prose and other work by Asian American disability activist Wong...Wong's collection provides a truly multidimensional portrait of a disabled writer effectively fighting the tendency of able-bodied people to treat the disability community as a monolith, an idea the author effectively deconstructs throughout the book...Not just beautifully written, the book is formally innovative, incorporating fiction (most notably, science fiction) and illustrated elements that are both profoundly insightful and consistently creative...Wong's grasp of social justice issues is as impressive as her ability to explain complex ideas clearly, passionately, and often humorously...A stunningly innovative, compulsively readable hybrid of memoir, cultural criticism, and social activism."

"As this stylish memoir demonstrates, each person, disabled or not, can demand more from a world that is largely built without access in mind."

"Year of the Tiger is doing serious work — because her message, after all, is about the value of people's lives, that they are worth living even in the face of a society that might tell you otherwise."

"Wong outlines her life as an advocate and educator in this stunning collection of essays, interviews, and artwork...Wong's voice is straightforward, but she sprinkles in dry humor and is adept at balancing compassion with flashes of rage...The combination of memoir, manifesto, scrapbook, confession, and rousing call to action make for a winning mix...This one's tough to forget."

"In 'Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life,' disability rights activist and organizer Alice Wong chronicles her life as a disabled Asian American woman...Through powerful essays, blog posts, interviews, photos and art, Wong offers an intimate and illuminating account of the challenges, joys and frustrations of living in a world not made for people like her...Wong writes powerfully about the financial pressures faced by her family to provide the care she needed, the vulnerability of depending on public programs, and the many forms of discrimination experienced by those who aren't as physically mobile...Wong is quick to call out an ableist society that sees disabled lives as 'full of suffering and misery'...In a world that can't see past the limitations of a disabled body, she writes about her happy childhood, her love of food, her joy of writing and being a sci-fi nerd...She acknowledges the kindness she's received from her family and others in her community, and doesn't fail to find the humor in her experiences...An empowering read, 'Year of the Tiger' challenges us to check any ableist privilege and reconsider the world we have created – a world that is inaccessible and hostile to the most vulnerable among us."

"Every section is a new discovery that takes the reader through Wong's childhood memories, policies around public health care, bad media depictions of people with disabilities, various uses of assistive technology, and the future of pandemic-era care."