A review by williamc
The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father by Kao Kalia Yang

5.0

A brilliant and touching family memoir that serves as an excellent and essential companion to Yang's earlier book, [b:The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir|2541323|The Latehomecomer A Hmong Family Memoir|Kao Kalia Yang|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1354209552s/2541323.jpg|2548852]. Together, the books tell powerful stories of identity, immigration, forced migration, assimilation, racism, and within one family, the complicated and slow process of Americanization that sees each child becoming more Western than the last, with the oldest sister Dawb in a particularly challenging role as the interpreter between her frustrated, powerless parents and the presumptions and expectations of a widely disinterested white America. Many of the stories Yang finds are impactful and delicately presented to capture a range of emotions, but never grasp for effect or charge the reader. I was deeply affected by this book, moreso than its predecessor, but they should be read together, as inseparable as sisters.