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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
I found this to be a refreshing and honest look at being a minority in America, and I'm especially glad that I got the audiobook. It felt like Eddie Huang was just hanging out in my Bluetooth telling stories.
I was not prepared for the length of this book (did anyone edit it at all?) or the microscopic detail it was gonna go into, but I did appreciate Huang's honesty and grit.
The only memoir i've connected with, at a personal level! And as a child who grew up in a south asian family not too dissimilar from Mr. Huang's own, I related too almost every portion of it.
I felt super uncomfortable when he started using the n word. For a book about exploring racism and the way it impacts and informs everyday life he felt way too comfortable using it.
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
My respect for Eddie Huang went up several points now that I've finished reading his memoir. My friends and I pass by Baohaus on 14th Street all the time (the smart alecks among us insist on calling it "brohaus" because of the font) and I see his mug on Food Network and Cooking Channel all the time, so I knew exactly he was before reading the memoir. That's why I even requested the ARC for the book in the first place.
Eddie calls himself a "rotten banana," bucking the model minority stereotype that most Asians/Asian-Americans have had foisted on them here in the US. He writes in long glorious detail exactly how rotten he is: fighting, dealing drugs, getting arrested. But at the same time, you read about his innate curiosity and unwillingness to be pinned down and reduced to an idea and for me, that's what struck me about this guy's memoir. It's not that he's a foodie celeb, or that he's some bad boy Azn muthafucka, but that he's just the same guy as all of us, with the same contradictions and the same passions... even if he does get Tony Bourdain to write a pull-quote for his book.
Eddie calls himself a "rotten banana," bucking the model minority stereotype that most Asians/Asian-Americans have had foisted on them here in the US. He writes in long glorious detail exactly how rotten he is: fighting, dealing drugs, getting arrested. But at the same time, you read about his innate curiosity and unwillingness to be pinned down and reduced to an idea and for me, that's what struck me about this guy's memoir. It's not that he's a foodie celeb, or that he's some bad boy Azn muthafucka, but that he's just the same guy as all of us, with the same contradictions and the same passions... even if he does get Tony Bourdain to write a pull-quote for his book.
Not a story I could easily relate to, nor did I connect much with the constant references to hip-hop, basketball, sneakers, and New York street culture. His slang vernacular was off putting for me and felt over the top. I appreciate his struggle, though I can't personally relate to it. This book has a very specific audience that I am not a member of, but I did enjoy hearing a perspective very different from one I am used to hearing. I do want to eat at his restaurant though, and make some beef noodle soup, so it gets the extra star for that alone.
I appreciate that Eddie tried to be himself and sound personable to his readers. However, I think that it's hard for me to relate to him and to understand his arguments. To me, he wants to be seen as son of working class immigrant parents, who appreciates his heritage, and "keeps it real". But, he pretty much contradicts himself consistently. He openly talks about how much he hates his parents, how he acted like a huge asshole growing up (which gives him, his family, and his heritage a bad rap), and his hood voice changes from chapter to chapter. He'll write a whole chapter using words like illest/fux/cot damn, but then go into talking about food using these really pretentious cooking terms like "cooking off the first".
I thought the book was really poorly written and organized. At the end of one chapter, he talks about how he got into Syracuse for college, has a scholarship, and is determined to go against he father's wishes. The next chapter starts something like "When I got to Pittsburgh..." What? Where did that come from? I appreciate how he speaks against stereotypes of Asian men as emasculated, but he only talks about women as "shawties". So, counter feeling emasculated by being demeaning to women?
Eddie credits Guy Fieri for pushing him to get him into the restaurant business, but then bashes Guy and the Food Network which makes it seem like he has no respect or loyalty. So yeah, I have a million problems with this book. I think there are some interesting points, but overall, it's just a lot of nonsensical stupidity about getting high and being a dick.
I thought the book was really poorly written and organized. At the end of one chapter, he talks about how he got into Syracuse for college, has a scholarship, and is determined to go against he father's wishes. The next chapter starts something like "When I got to Pittsburgh..." What? Where did that come from? I appreciate how he speaks against stereotypes of Asian men as emasculated, but he only talks about women as "shawties". So, counter feeling emasculated by being demeaning to women?
Eddie credits Guy Fieri for pushing him to get him into the restaurant business, but then bashes Guy and the Food Network which makes it seem like he has no respect or loyalty. So yeah, I have a million problems with this book. I think there are some interesting points, but overall, it's just a lot of nonsensical stupidity about getting high and being a dick.
I loved this book. It is very hard to stomach sometimes. But Eddie Huang is so real about the decisions he made and why he did it. It felt very vulnerable and that’s ultimately why I liked it.
Also, I listened to the audio book version and I think having Eddie Huang narrate it himself really added a positive dimension.
After reading others’ reviews: I definitely get why people wouldn’t like this book. He is very crass at points and he does put himself on a pedestal. Putting himself on a pedestal I don’t mind .. it is a memoir. The crassness is a little harder to look over. When he’s writing in the perspective of his younger self I get it. It’s the crassness when he’s writing from the perspective of his adult self that still bothers me.
I still think this is very much worth the read to get a different perspective on growing up Chinese or otherwise not white in a America.
Also, I listened to the audio book version and I think having Eddie Huang narrate it himself really added a positive dimension.
After reading others’ reviews: I definitely get why people wouldn’t like this book. He is very crass at points and he does put himself on a pedestal. Putting himself on a pedestal I don’t mind .. it is a memoir. The crassness is a little harder to look over. When he’s writing in the perspective of his younger self I get it. It’s the crassness when he’s writing from the perspective of his adult self that still bothers me.
I still think this is very much worth the read to get a different perspective on growing up Chinese or otherwise not white in a America.
