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biblioholicbeth 's review for:
Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir
by Eddie Huang
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.