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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
I realize, looking back on it, that I was being naive, but I really did not expect quite so much child abuse alongside the food and the comedy. There is ... really quite a lot of child abuse in the first half, so much that I almost stopped reading, so much that no amount of unique narrative voice and humor could make it even marginally funny.
This is still worth reading — it’s a great example of the very important difference between the Asian-American Experience and *one* Asian-American person’s experience, and it’s also one of those amazing life stories you don’t quite believe even if you watch it all unfold in real time. I love that Huang is out there, aggressively being himself, aggressively speaking his truths.
But holy gods is that a lot of child abuse for an intended-to-be-humorous memoir.
This is still worth reading — it’s a great example of the very important difference between the Asian-American Experience and *one* Asian-American person’s experience, and it’s also one of those amazing life stories you don’t quite believe even if you watch it all unfold in real time. I love that Huang is out there, aggressively being himself, aggressively speaking his truths.
But holy gods is that a lot of child abuse for an intended-to-be-humorous memoir.
Eddie Huang is a sexist (no matter how much he quotes Audre Lorde) obnoxious tryhard but he's strongest when he speaks on food and identity. So, I personally found the first half/quarter of the book fairly strong.
Not at all like what I've seen of the show. Huang's memoir is steeped in '90s and hip hop culture. He uses slang and lyrics, immersing his audience into the atmosphere of his childhood and young adult years.
This is the first audiobook I've listened to that differed from the print. The intro is specific to the audio version and there's a section where Huang addresses the audio audience. I also really loved how into the story he was when narrating. He actually LAUGHS, like he would if he were telling the story to a friend.
Aside from the narration, I did like the discussion of race present in this book. Huang goes against the model minority myth and discusses the emasculation of Asian men in U.S. media. These themes are undercurrents to his wild shenanigans and the aspects I appreciated the most. Otherwise, there's a lot of drug dealing, stealing, and getting in other sorts of trouble.
This is the first audiobook I've listened to that differed from the print. The intro is specific to the audio version and there's a section where Huang addresses the audio audience. I also really loved how into the story he was when narrating. He actually LAUGHS, like he would if he were telling the story to a friend.
Aside from the narration, I did like the discussion of race present in this book. Huang goes against the model minority myth and discusses the emasculation of Asian men in U.S. media. These themes are undercurrents to his wild shenanigans and the aspects I appreciated the most. Otherwise, there's a lot of drug dealing, stealing, and getting in other sorts of trouble.
After reading this, I can understand why the author cut ties with the Fresh Off the Boat tv show. What he wrote and what they produced are barely related to one another. I was frankly shocked by the difference. I am glad that Eddie Huang's story exists in this form at least. There were definitely aspects of the book that I liked, especially where Huang is reflective and philosophical, but other parts definitely rubbed me the wrong way, particularly the violence (but of course, he was just saying what happened in his life, so I can't really complain about that). In any case, I am glad that I listened to the audiobook. I feel that Huang's personality definitely comes across clearly in an aural format.
Some people have a rough start in life and they use it as an excuse to never reach for anything, to never excel. Then there are people like Eddie Huang. Actually, I'm not sure there *is* anyone else like Eddie. Fresh Off the Boat is as unique a memoir as they come, and it certainly is like no other from someone who is reasonably well-known for his cooking.
Eddie's family are FOB (fresh off the boat - new immigrants) when the book begins, though he is born in the United States. His father is...old-fashioned...and his treatment of his children veers way off the path into abusive territory. His mother appears to be not in her right mind half the time. And Eddie is completely honest about how he was often in trouble and was a rough kid. However, the book is written with utter truth and no pleas for understanding or excuses for behavior. He basically just says, this is who I am and how I got here. Take it or leave it. And he makes it very clear that if you choose to leave it, he won't really care one way or the other. His honesty is refreshing and is what truly makes the book more than the sum of its parts.
From the abuse doled out by his father, to the discrimination he received at the hands of kids and adults alike, to his best friends - Eddie lets it all hang out. It's a very well-written story, with an absolutely unique and intelligent voice. There were only two things that bothered me about the book, neither of them deal-breakers (in my mind). One - the story gets slightly off track about 1/3 of the way in, where the stories about partying begin to take over. I think it went on longer than necessary, but thankfully it was short-lived. Two - there were times when I couldn't understand a flippin' thing he was saying! The English he was writing was more like some crazy foreign language I never got around to learning. Thankfully, it came and went in fairly small bits at a time. It fit the story, so it's truly hard to nitpick that.
All-in-all, I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. He has built a successful business being true to himself, and this book is no different.
Eddie's family are FOB (fresh off the boat - new immigrants) when the book begins, though he is born in the United States. His father is...old-fashioned...and his treatment of his children veers way off the path into abusive territory. His mother appears to be not in her right mind half the time. And Eddie is completely honest about how he was often in trouble and was a rough kid. However, the book is written with utter truth and no pleas for understanding or excuses for behavior. He basically just says, this is who I am and how I got here. Take it or leave it. And he makes it very clear that if you choose to leave it, he won't really care one way or the other. His honesty is refreshing and is what truly makes the book more than the sum of its parts.
From the abuse doled out by his father, to the discrimination he received at the hands of kids and adults alike, to his best friends - Eddie lets it all hang out. It's a very well-written story, with an absolutely unique and intelligent voice. There were only two things that bothered me about the book, neither of them deal-breakers (in my mind). One - the story gets slightly off track about 1/3 of the way in, where the stories about partying begin to take over. I think it went on longer than necessary, but thankfully it was short-lived. Two - there were times when I couldn't understand a flippin' thing he was saying! The English he was writing was more like some crazy foreign language I never got around to learning. Thankfully, it came and went in fairly small bits at a time. It fit the story, so it's truly hard to nitpick that.
All-in-all, I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. He has built a successful business being true to himself, and this book is no different.
This was a pretty interesting book. It was cool to hear it read by the author himself. He often laughed at stuff he'd written, which made it feel like having a conversation with him.
He mentioned at one point that growing up, there wasn't a section at the library for kids from abusive homes, and I guess we all write the book we wanted to be able to read as kids. Sometimes it felt like a therapy session listening to him, and there were times I really wanted to challenge him. He came back to the idea that he "didn't have a choice" with a lot of poor decisions he made. I haven't lived his life, but it felt like he was very invested in not knowing certain things about himself and his choices.
That said, it was an interesting book to hear, and it may help me understand some of my students' mindsets.
He mentioned at one point that growing up, there wasn't a section at the library for kids from abusive homes, and I guess we all write the book we wanted to be able to read as kids. Sometimes it felt like a therapy session listening to him, and there were times I really wanted to challenge him. He came back to the idea that he "didn't have a choice" with a lot of poor decisions he made. I haven't lived his life, but it felt like he was very invested in not knowing certain things about himself and his choices.
That said, it was an interesting book to hear, and it may help me understand some of my students' mindsets.
3.75 stars. This book was clearly not really meant for me, a white female 20-something, but rather the Asian-American youth that feels their culture has been watered down and emasculated in America. So I sruggled to relate to it, but Huang it really a great storyteller. I respect him. Where he really shines is when he's talking about food, New York, and what being Taiwanese-American means to him. I kinda dozed off during pages-long descriptions of sneakers, "hangin' wit da homiez." Huang seemed a bit obsessed with being "street-wise" and "cool" and I rolled my eyes more than once at the liberal use of gangsta slang. I wonder if that's my white privilege showing though.
Man I loved this ride from start to finish. I don’t think it would be for everyone, and there are some fair criticisms to be had, but I loved this story, the way it was told, and the many many references to radical writers and thinkers, Swift to Lorde to Tupac. This is a great coming of age story that discusses race in America in an excellent way (not the best way because there are as many ways to discuss that experience as there are people). I don’t necessarily agree with all of Huang’s views but I think he does a great job of saying that they are specific to him and his experience. A wild story that it’s best to just follow along and oh god the food descriptions.
Not the book I was expecting. That said, I'm pretty sure Eddie Huang achieved exactly what he set out to do : blast away any preconception of Asian Americans and more specifically Asian American chefs.
Huang is not the stereotypical Asian American (read: quiet, studious, playing piano). He is a foul-mouthed, hip-hop and rap loving, slightly criminal gangster cook. Cook - not chef.
The result? Although we are roughly the same age I was lost in a sea of sports and music references. At first I tried to look up the games of rappers he was dropping and the slang he used. But then I gave up. I decided that wasn't how Huang was expecting his book to be read. So I let go of the cultural references that I didn't understand and tried to appreciate the more important part of the story.
The message about how caught between a stereotype in public and expectations at home (in a not-so-happy home) Huang rebelled and found solace in a culture that most people wouldn't suspect. How his interest in food and culture and race was always present but not always easy to communicate. And how disappointing his parents sucked (emotionally and physically) but at the end Huang had to be true to himself.
I enjoyed this book but I can think of friends who may enjoy it more because they will understand the cultural references.
Disclaimer: I won my copy from a GoodReads giveaway.
Huang is not the stereotypical Asian American (read: quiet, studious, playing piano). He is a foul-mouthed, hip-hop and rap loving, slightly criminal gangster cook. Cook - not chef.
The result? Although we are roughly the same age I was lost in a sea of sports and music references. At first I tried to look up the games of rappers he was dropping and the slang he used. But then I gave up. I decided that wasn't how Huang was expecting his book to be read. So I let go of the cultural references that I didn't understand and tried to appreciate the more important part of the story.
The message about how caught between a stereotype in public and expectations at home (in a not-so-happy home) Huang rebelled and found solace in a culture that most people wouldn't suspect. How his interest in food and culture and race was always present but not always easy to communicate. And how disappointing his parents sucked (emotionally and physically) but at the end Huang had to be true to himself.
I enjoyed this book but I can think of friends who may enjoy it more because they will understand the cultural references.
Disclaimer: I won my copy from a GoodReads giveaway.
I loved this book. His audio version of it was good. I wouldn't tell other people to spend more money to get it (than to purchase the book or rent it) but if you can get it for the same price I'd say do it. It was a good story that I wasn't familiar with in a lot of ways. I had lots of Asian friends growing up and was a regular fixture in their homes so I was familiar with a lot of parts of the culture Huang talks about. What I was unfamiliar with was Florida in the 90s, especially through the eyes of a Taiwanese family. That was new and very interesting to listen to. Huang does a great job chronicling his life; he keeps it interesting and detailed and really hooks the listener/reader in via his passionate explanations and interpretations on parts of his life. He's a good storyteller and I found myself interested in each story. Though I will admit, when he talks about food it's really wonderful and you can hear the love and appreciation in his voice. Great book for those that love bios, food, pop culture, and just decently written books in general. Loved this so much I bought a copy to send to my old roommate, a chef who is a serious sneaker freak. Good stuff.