Much Ado About Keanu: A Critical Reeves Theory (Chicago Review Press, 2025)
Thanks to his prolific movie career (seventy-eight movies as of 2023) and endearing real-life persona, Keanu Reeves has become the universal screen saver of pop culture—nobody can go a few days without some reference to Keanu or his movies popping up. But Reeves is much more than box office receipts and internet memes, and Much Ado About Keanu provides the deep dive into his art, identity, and ethnicity that this oft-misunderstood cultural icon deserves.”Thanks to his prolific movie career (seventy-eight movies as of 2023) and endearing real-life persona, Keanu Reeves has become the universal screen saver of pop culture—nobody can go a few days without some reference to Keanu or his movies popping up. But Reeves is much more than box office receipts and internet memes, and Much Ado About Keanu provides the deep dive into his art, identity, and ethnicity that this oft-misunderstood cultural icon deserves.
Despite the sometimes-mocking estimations of his acting skills—and his seven Razzie nominations—Keanu is one of the most thoughtful and talented performers of Generation X, and during his forty-year career he has made huge strides for Asian representation in spite of his identity often being whitewashed. Pop-culture sociologist and Reeves devotee Sezin Devi Koehler explores all of this, presenting insightful essays that critically examine Reeves’s creative output from an interdisciplinary and intersectional perspective.
Those who code Reeves as white miss how his multiracial identity informs so many of his mainstream films, often subverting their most straightforward themes. Criticisms of his acting overlook the popularity and the reach of his work. Koehler’s essays challenge how audiences engage with Keanu’s movies, highlighting the importance of Keanu as a multitalented artist and trailblazer, not only for racial representation but for intersectional, queer, and feminist readings of cinema as well.
Much Ado About Keanu connects existing media studies around various themes in Reeves’s films—particularly Asian and Indigenous representation, gender studies, philosophy, technology, and sexuality studies—in a “critical Reeves theory” sure to engage not just fans but all of us who live in Keanu’s world.
Crime Rave (Self-Published, 2015)
Women, survivors, warriors—the hardcore ensemble from Sezín Koehler’s debut novel “American Monsters” survive the worst act of domestic terrorism ever to occur on American soil when 35,000 ravers are murdered in cold blood.
Regathered, and regrown from their remaining body parts, they must work with the LAPD detectives Atticus Red Feather and Synthia Günn to put together the pieces of this monstrous act and face new horrors.
The science experiments of an elite underground lab team, led by Colonel Ripper Ransom—of My Lai massacre fame—want out, and the smog goddess Kaleanathi wants more souls to devour.
What will happen if the survivors fail? The world is full of monsters, but the worst are yet to come.
In the long-awaited follow-up to her first novel “American Monsters”, Sezin Koehler has surfed a genre shift in “Crime Rave” from postmodern feminist horror to a crime and urban fantasy crossover with an all-monsters-in approach to satiate even the most hardened horror fan.
Vampires, werewolves, feminist zombies, aliens, hybrids, mutants, serial killers, war criminals, an evil countess, and more: There’s something for everyone in this fresh take on a supernatural noir story.
Picking up right where “American Monsters” left off—and written with first readers in mind—Koehler weaves us into her tapestry of an alternate universe in which goddesses have free reign over humans, trauma goes hand in hand with superpowers, and Marilyn Monroe lives, in this unique tale of destruction, survival, and redemption for some.
If you’re a new reader, welcome.
If you’re an old reader, welcome back. The scenery has changed some.
Available on Amazon and all other online retailers. Or better, you could have your local bookshop snag one for you.
American Monsters (Ghostwoods Books, 2010)
An important work of post-modern feminist horror, American Monsters is a poignant, angry volume about predation, the corruption of the rave scene, and empowerment through trauma-related super-abilities.
The first section of American Monsters is The Succubi Sideshow. This is a series of darkly compelling vignettes introducing a wide range of characters. You’ll find no happy, well-balanced individuals in this disturbing gallery. These are the origins of the monstrous denizens of the book. There are good monsters, yes, but there are some very bad ones too.
In the second section, The Phantastic Carnival, the Monsters are brought together through the murderous designs of an ancient, soul-hungry goddess. What could be a better lure for a big haul of youthful life-force than a spectacular Halloween party in a peculiar hill-top mansion? This section is presented as a film script and, like the previous piece, is illustrated with gorgeous watercolour paintings from artist Rose Deniz.
Non-Fiction, the third and final section of American Monsters, is a collection of moving and insightful essays. This includes a series of authoritative feminist analyses of horror, ethnography and rave culture. The heart of this section however is The Night The Sky Opened Up, a heart-rending account of the night when the author’s best friend was executed in front of her by a crazed gang-member.
Packed with horror homages both oblique and obvious, American Monsters is a book for adventurous readers – ones who are not scared of non-traditional narratives, of evil smog-goddesses, or of women turning the tables.
Available on Amazon, and all other online retailers.