Angela Chen is a journalist and writer in New York City. Her reporting and criticism have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Atlantic, Guardian, Paris Review, Electric Literature, Catapult, and elsewhere. Chen is a member of the ace community and has spoken about asexuality at academic conferences and events including World Pride. Find her on Twitter @chengela or at angelachen.org.
“[Ace] is a [thoughtful] combination of reportage, cultural
criticism and memoir, and the writing attempts the difficult
balance between proof and emotion. [Most striking is] Chen’s
honesty, the sentences of intimate reflection that appear in the
margins of her argument throughout.”
—The New York Times
“Ace is a fantastic starting point for dismantling harmful sexual
narratives and reimagining human connection as a broader, more
equitable, enjoyable and free experience.”
—Washington Post
“The book allows us to imagine how much more we could get from our
relationships if we were able to free ourselves from restrictive
ideas of what we’re supposed to feel and do.”
—Rhaina Cohen, NPR
“Highly informative and readable.”
—Ms.
“One guarantee: Your mind will be blown by this book.”
—Shondaland
“Chen sets a thoughtful, rigorous, personally generous tone for
what will hopefully be an expanding area of study.”
—Electric Literature
“This book isn’t just about asexuality and that’s what makes it
such a vital read; it’s about society, and society’s rules and
norms and expectations around sex, sexuality, and all forms of
relationships. It’s so good and I want every person on earth to
read it.”
—Sarah Nielsen, them
“Chen’s careful cultural analysis explores how societal norms limit
understanding of sex and relationships and celebrates the breadth
of sexuality and queerness.”
—Kundiman
“In her penetrating yet wittily kind voice, she describes many
different visions of a sexually liberated society, if we could all
just pay closer attention. She both imagines and demands a world
through which each individual can move on their own terms, where
any expression of orientation or attraction or desire can be as
simple—as accepted and acceptable and easy and profound and taken
at face value and understood—as ‘You’re my person.’”
—Women’s Review of Books
"Asexual and aromantic people are often dismissed or erased from
the spectrum of queerness. Angela Chen’s book is key to the fight
against that erasure.... [An] accessible guide to asexuality."
—BookRiot
“A necessary and thoughtful book that accessibly communicates a
wide array of ace experiences.”
—Booklist
“Chen has produced a thoughtful look at what it means not to
experience sexual attraction.”
—Library Journal
“Precision of language . . . is at the fore of Ace, a text that
offers a nuanced exploration of sexual identities and a celebration
of other types of intimacies beyond the confines of compulsory
sexuality.”
—International Examiner
“Asexual people have always existed, but they have long gone
unacknowledged. Even Alfred Kinsey, when developing his scale for
sexual orientation, called asexual people Group X and excluded them
from the spectrum. Journalist Chen interviewed nearly 100 asexual
people—or “aces”—to fill in this historical gap and present various
aspects of the asexual experience in scientific and cultural
context. For example, Chen points to how the definition of
hypoactive sexual desire disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the American Psychiatric
Association's current compendium of psychological conditions,
reinforces the idea that low sexual desire is something that needs
to be cured. Although asexuality is often described as a lack of
sexual attraction, Chen argues that 'we must consider that negative
space can be more than an absent image.‘”
—Karen Kwon, Scientific American
“This excellent book successfully challenges many of society’s
entrenched ideas around sex and desire. Reading it should be
mandatory for all.”
—The Independent
“A great starting point for anyone who wants to discover more about
this identity, for both those who have a feeling they could be ace
and those who do not. It does a great job of providing context,
real life examples, and points of consideration about this
topic.”
—The Mancunion
“Ace is an excellent introduction to asexuality and its place on
the wider spectrum of human sexuality. It is a mandatory read for
anyone affected by sex and sexuality, which is, of course,
everyone.”
—Feminism in India
“A long overdue addition to the catalog of sexuality writing and
resources. Chen thoughtfully positions asexuality not as its own
unique category or identity but as one more point on the vast,
diverse spectrum of human sexual identities. A must-read for
everyone: ace, allo, or anywhere in between.”
—Lux Alptraum, author of Faking It: The Lies Women Tell About
Sex—and the Truths They Reveal
“Through painstaking research and her considerable skill as a
storyteller, Angela Chen brings needed attention and nuance to an
often overlooked spectrum of asexual experiences, encouraging
readers to consider what exists and what is possible in terms of
human connection, consent, understanding, and acceptance. A book
that makes room for questions even as it illuminates, Ace should be
viewed as a landmark work on culture and sexuality.”
—Nicole Chung, author of All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir
“Accessible and eloquently written, Ace sensitively and accurately
spotlights an interconnected series of outsider experiences. Few
asexual-spectrum narratives so authentically and diversely capture
the truths, the quirks, the tragedies, and the triumphs of our
lives without alienating non-ace readers or appealing only to one
subset of the ace population. Ace creates an inclusive tapestry of
validating and eye-opening narratives that will give some readers
an experience they may have never had before: seeing our
‘anomalous’ perspectives and emotions given the sensitive
examination and validation we’ve always been denied.”
—Julie Sondra Decker, author of The Invisible Orientation: An
Introduction to Asexuality
“Chen’s tenacious search for the precise language to describe her
experiences is deeply moving and relatable. This book will inspire
you to interrogate every assumption you’ve made about yourself,
your sexuality, and your relationships. Ace is a revelation. We
can’t stop thinking about it.”
—Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman, authors of Big Friendship: How We
Keep Each Other Close
“Ace is nothing less than a cultural feat. It’s a powerful book
that interweaves reporting and research about asexuality in ways
that will remain with readers long after they’ve turned the last
page. Ace announces a new dawn, one in which asexual people are
voicing their experiences without fear or shame. They’re here,
simply living and demystifying misconceptions in the process.”
—Evette Dionne, editor in chief of Bitch Media and author of
Lifting As We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box
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