T-Minus Ten Days to Launch [#13]

The finished books are HEEEEEEERE!!! And so far I have not dislocated my shoulder again, knock on wood.

Annyeong!

My author copies arrived! This was a surreal moment and I seem like I’m on drugs when I unboxed them, but it’s just me.

Tomorrow we are in the TEN DAY COUNTDOWN to publication day of #FlawlessTheBook and y’all have been in on all the ups and downs for the past six months. Thanks so much for following along and for all your support.

@whoelise#flawlessthebook showed up on my doorstep gaaaaaaahhh!!!! @Dutton Books #booktok #unboxing #kbeauty #read

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Recurring Themes and Tidbits

I’ve been talking with a lot of interviewers about the book in the past couple of weeks and I’ll just log some of the tidbits that come up in conversation, since you can look for them when you get your copy in TEN DAYS.

The ajummas! I devote a chapter to physical beauty and aging, spending time with older Korean women. And they end up offering such an affirmative vision for caring for our bodies and the characters and voices are so fun to spend time with. A lot of interviewers want to talk about the ajummas.

Problematizing a thing, then offering the “solution” to the problem. Korea is expert at a sciencey-glazed diagnosis for skin problems, or the “wrong” face ratios, or leg ratios, etc. And by using high tech 3D imaging, or skin analysis to show you a problem, industry can then create a market around a high-tech fix for the problem.

Writing nearby. It’s a framework I bear in mind when reporting on a culture that is close to mine (I am also Asian), but not my own (I am not Korean). My perspective as an Asian-American, but as a Chinese/Taiwanese woman who didn’t grow up with Korean customs or family or within its borders. The idea is not to speak for Koreans with any position of authority, but to do our best in centering their voices in the reporting so they can speak for themselves.

I Need You!

Y’all are the #FlawlessTheBook street team and it’s time to go and spread this book and its ideas — challenging the systems that promote appearance-based discrimination, tackling bodily shame, breaking down the increasingly tight link between appearance and worth. The book hits bookshelves May 23. Order it at any of these places. I want a world for future generations that doesn’t equate physical appearance (and the work it takes to get there) with political, social, or economic capital. Beauty is so much more nuanced and spiritual than glowy skin or snatched waists. Our full selves are so much more nuanced and spiritual than what’s on our outsides.

What You Can Do Now

Pre-order a signed copy if you can’t make it to one of the events around the country. The signed copy sale is ending in a few days, act now! If you want an e-book or audiobook, you can get them anywhere they’re sold.

RSVP if you can make it to an event. Looking forward to seeing friends in person!

Talk about it with your friends and amplify on your social media. We’re using #flawlessthebook as a hashtag, and I’m @EliseWho on Twitter and Instagram, and @WhoElise on Tiktok.

Go ahead and smash that five star review on Goodreads or write a review there (if you’ve already gotten the book somehow) so other book lovers can discover Flawless through that platform. I will remind y’all when it’s time to do Amazon reviews even though … Amazon, I know.

Coming Up This Week…

My fellow bibliophile, Nicole Zhu, talked with me for her newsletter about creativity. That comes out on Wednesday. I spoke with the beloved beauty podcast Fat Mascara for its episode dropping Friday, and the first Flawless-adjacent magazine piece is coming in The Atlantic. Look out for those!

Okay you’re gonna hear from me more in the coming days since there’s going to be a lot happening. I’ll share photos and fun stuff here, as well as on the socials. If I haven’t said it enough, I want to say it again. Your support is meaningful and fortifying and I will be grateful always.

Love,

Elise

PS. I found a gif of my former assistant Se Eun and me from 2018, and it made me happy to see her, so I am putting it here. We were at the giant press filing center near the inter-Korean border, watching the live feed of the first inter-Korean summit in ages, between Kim Jong Un and then South Korean President Moon Jae In.