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Bio

SHORT
J.A. Yang enjoys board games, karaoke, and strong wireless signals. His favorite font is Enviro. Originally from San Diego, he travels around looking for spare couches to sleep on. He's authored a few books, been published online here and there, and wonders why no one mourns the wicked. He believes in the power of self-respect and achieves through the power of Grayskull.

Currently he is busy writing, not writing, and occasionally taking a break to eat gummy bears. He can not write or write forever and still find things to not write about. You can reach him at digitaljon(at)gmail.com. He is BFF with his iPhone so he should answer promptly.

LONG
Originally from Taiwan, Jon immigrated to the United States in 1984 and subsequently spent the rest of the Eighties studying English and missing out on American pop culture. In the Nineties he emerged with a thorough understanding of Yanni's discography, Dungeons & Dragons, and not much else. After high school in San Diego, Jon and his twin sister, Georgette, were torn apart as he chose to shuffle along to the University of Michigan, majoring in philosophy.

Following college, he moved to New York until 9/11 scared him away and he lived overseas in England and China for awhile until loneliness set in. He then returned to occupy various cubicles, immortalized himself in a video game, and helped out with the family business -- a flute factory.

He became an author when The Rough Guide to Blogging released in 2006. A few short years later, his young adult novel, Exclusively Chloe, debuted to localized rejoicing and scattered applause. He is represented by the always amazing Full Circle Literary.

Jon enjoys conversations that start in the middle, friendships that form instantly, and making lots of lists. Right now he is hopefully writing furiously, as he belongs to the light, belongs to the thunder, belongs to the sound of the words.

MORE
FAVORITES
  • Books All-Time: Immortality (Milan Kundera), Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand), Contact (Carl Sagan), Why Big Animals Are Rare (Paul Colinvaux), Love is a Mixtape (Rob Sheffield)
  • Books, Recent: Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Junot Diaz), One World Schoolhouse (Salman Khan), Fresh Off the Boat (Eddie Huang), The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. (Adelle Waldman), Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn), Why Look at Animals (John Berger), Bad Feminist (Roxane Gay), Truth & Beauty (Ann Patchett), The Unspeakable (Meghan Daum), Green Island (Shawna Yang Ryan), Stories of Your Life and Others (Ted Chiang), The Folded Clock (Heidi Julavits), The Big Short (Michael Lewis), State of Wonder (Ann Patchett)
  • YA Selections: Speak (Laurie Halse Anderson), The Possibilities of Sainthood (Donna Freitas), Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls (Bennett Madison), Leviathan series (Scott Westerfeld), Boy Meets Boy (David Levithan), Code Name Verity (Elizabeth Wein), Kiki Strike series (Kirsten Miller), We Were Liars (E.Lockhart)
  • Movies All-Time: Reality Bites, Swingers, Pulp Fiction, Fight Club, Lost in Translation, Before Sunrise/Sunset, Almost Famous, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Best in Show, Ghost World
  • Movies, Recent: Moonrise Kingdom, Young Adult, Looper, Spring Breakers, Frances Ha, Stories We Tell, The Great Beauty, Blue is the Warmest Color, The One I Love, Her, Edge of Tomorrow, LaLa Land, The Lobster, 20th Century Women, Logan, This!
  • Actors/actresses: Ryan Gosling, Amy Adams, Emma Stone, Michael Fassbender, Greta Gerwig, Jessica Chastain
  • TV Shows: My So Called Life, Freaks and Geeks, Mad Men, RW/RR Challenge, Sherlock, Thrones Thrones, Thrones, Atlanta, Black Sails, Orphan Black, Westworld, Riverdale
  • Music: Frank Ocean, the end.
  • Podcasts: The Bill Simmons Podcast, all The Ringer pods, Call Your Girlfriend, Bad with Money, Still Processing, Slate's Cultural Gabfest, The Lonely Palette, How I Built This, Dear Sugar, Yo Is This Racist?, The Redo
  • Obsessions: Boston Celtics, X-Men, Wizard of Oz, chess, dance movies, fantasy sports.
  • Foods: Ramen, carne asada burritos, heavily buttered and salted movie popcorn, canned pineapple chunks, boba boba boba, 豆花.
"A while back... [we] agreed that what really matters is what you like, not what you are like. Books, records, films -- these things matter! Call me shallow, it's the fucking truth."
-High Fidelity-

[Updated: 5/2017]

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