Anelise Chen’s latest memoir takes an unconventional narrative approach by telling her personal story through the perspective of a clam. The book recounts her journey through divorce, a reflective visit to New Mexico, and a confrontation with her family’s past, all narrated in the third person. This artistic choice provides Chen with a broader, map-like perspective on herself and her experiences.
Though it may seem unusual, the clam serves as a fitting metaphor throughout the memoir. Inspired by a frequent typo in her mother’s texts—typing “clam down” instead of “calm down”—Chen embraces the clam as a symbol for the way she internalizes emotion. Like the shellfish, she swallows her worries, keeping them hidden beneath the surface as her marriage unravels and she undergoes a profound emotional transformation.
‘Clam Down’ delves into the emotional state of shutting oneself off, highlighting both the protective benefits and the costs of such isolation. While the memoir centers on Chen’s personal experiences, it broadens its scope to examine questions about family ties, Asian American identity, and selfhood—all intertwined through the clam metaphor.
Chen’s father, Henry, exemplifies the clam’s withdrawn nature as well, characterized by retreat and emotional reserve. For a decade during Chen’s childhood, Henry lived in Taiwan apart from his family, dedicating himself to developing highly secure accounting software named Shell Computing. Visiting him, Chen comes to understand that this tendency to shut down emotionally is a hallmark of her family’s way of coping.
To fully tell her story, Chen also inhabits her father’s perspective with skill and nuance, drawing from her background as a novelist who blends fiction and nonfiction. Passages from Henry’s point of view reveal the complicated dynamics of a Taiwanese American father-daughter relationship—marked by a mix of irritation, indirect affection, and the challenges of communication.
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