Notes and Links to Rachel Khong’s Work

Rachel Khong is a writer living in Los Angeles. Her debut novel, Goodbye, Vitamin, won the 2017 California Book Award for First Fiction, and was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist for First Fiction. From 2011 to 2016, she was the managing editor then executive editor of Lucky Peach magazine. With Lucky Peach, she also edited a cookbook about eggs, called All About Eggs. In 2018, she founded The Ruby, a work and event space for women and nonbinary writers and artists in San Francisco’s Mission district; she retired at the end of 2021. Her second novel, Real Americans, was published by Knopf in April 2024, and was an instant New York Times bestseller. Her story collection, My Dear You, is out now from Knopf. She writes the monthly newsletter, Short Story Short. Along with her friends Meng Jin, Susanna Kwan, and Shruti Swamy, she teaches writing workshops and retreats. Find them at The Dream Side.com

At about 2:10, Rachel talks about her writing experience and philosophy involving eggs

At about 4:30, Rachel responds to Pete’s questions about her early language and literature background

At about 7:25, Pete and Rachel geek out about The Best American Short Stories anthologies

At about 10:30, Rachel highlights wonderful writing mentors and passionate readers

At about 12:00, Rachel describes her college “independent study” that exposed her to so much great writing, and Pete and Rachel cite Aimee Bender’s greatness

At about 15:45, Pete recounts his experience reading The Real Americans

At about 16:40, Pete lays out the story collection’s first resonant line and asks Rachel about the inspiration for the first story

At about 20:00, Rachel responds to Pete asking about the balance between the general and the specific, especially with regard to pathos

At about 22:50, Rachel reflects on a real-life parallel to a story in the collection, and an abstract/concrete connection to others in the world

At about 24:05, Cats and taking care of (literally!) their owners

At about 25:20, Pete and Rachel discuss racial dynamics and diversity with regard to the story “The Freshening”

At about 27:25, Rachel reflects on the ways that Asians and Asian-Americans have reacted to racism in the past

At about 30:10, Rachel discusses ideas of a “color-blind” society

At about 31:20, Pete cites resonant and outsized lines in the collection

At about 32:05, Rachel reacts to Pete’s musing about her as the writer sitting in judgment or not of her characters, especially Greg from “The Family O”

At about 38:45, the two discuss lost loves, missed connections, and senses of comfortability and routines

At about 41:00, Rachel talks about how the beginning of the pandemic connects to looking for meanings of suffering and pain and led to some of her story collections

At about 43:00, The two discuss themes of connection and alienation and loneliness in various stories

At about 46:20, Pete reflects on the traumas carried in the collection, and Rachel’s deft touch with her writing about miscarriage and other heavy topics

At about 48:10, Pete and Rachel discuss a story dealing with cultural change in Malaysia and shout out connections to the “beautiful book”-Rachel Heng’s The Great Reclamation

At about 51:20, Aihwa Ong’s article on possession by ghosts and worker protests are cited as seeds for Rachel’s work

At about 52:20,

At about 53:20, The two discuss the “beautiful absurdity” of Rachel’s work and Pete cites the profundity of friendship

At about 54:30, Rachel gives out tour info and book purchasing info

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This month’s Patreon bonus episode deals with short, powerful poems and prose that pack a punch-take that, alliteration! The episode features meaningful and resonant work from Robert Hershon, Mosab Abu Toha, Ernest Hemingway, Sara Abou Rashed, Khaled Juma, Andrea Cohen, and Marwan Makhoul.

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This is a passion project, a DIY operation, and Pete would love for your help in promoting what he’s convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.

The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

Please tune in for Episode 337 with Daniel Tam-Claiborne, a multiracial writer, multimedia producer, and nonprofit director. His debut novel, Transplants (Simon & Schuster, 2025), was a finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction and longlisted for the 2026 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award.

He is the author of the short story collection What Never Leaves, and his writing has appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, HuffPost, Catapult, Literary Hub, Off Assignment, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. Daniel is an award-winning producer for two public media initiatives at WNET, America’s flagship PBS station, including the digital documentary series be/longing: Asian Americans Now, Between Black & White: Asian Americans Speak Out, Voices Rising: What’s Next for Asian Americans in the Arts, and Climate Artists.

Daniel is an outspoken advocate for Asian American issues and increased global understanding through education, cultural exchange, storytelling, and effective philanthropy. He serves as Deputy Director at The Serica Initiative, a nonprofit organization that amplifies the impact of the Asian diaspora in America.

The episode airs on April 14.

Please go to ceasefiretoday.org, and/or https://act.uscpr.org/a/letaidin to call your congresspeople and demand an end to the forced famine and destruction of Gaza and the Gazan people.

You can also donate at chuffed.org, World Central Kitchen, and so many more, and/or you can contact writer friend Ursula Villarreal-Moura directly or through Pete, as she has direct links with friends in Gaza.