Meet Annie Choi. She fears cable cars and refuses to eat anything that casts a shadow. Her brother thinks chicken is a vegetable. Her father oc... read full description
reviews
Dec 20, 2011
Susie
rated it: 
I really love Annie's writing style; she feels like someone I'd be friends with. And her mom felt like someone I *want* to know! Each of her mom's quick retorts had me laughing as hard as Annie's "can-you-believe-this-crazy-lady" set ups.
I really related to a lot of the author's embarrassment about her family (which comes from a place of loving her family's quirks, obviously, not resenting/hating!) I went through the exact same thing with my mom when I wanted to wear thrift More...
I really related to a lot of the author's embarrassment about her family (which comes from a place of loving her family's quirks, obviously, not resenting/hating!) I went through the exact same thing with my mom when I wanted to wear thrift More...
Dec 17, 2009
olivia
rated it:
at first, i was afraid this book was all margaret cho-esque, as in, based solely on the humor of mom's inability to speak english. and it started out that way. but then, it got better. and it actually got funnier. it was witty and humorous but also something deeper than that. and of course, as a korean american 2nd generation girl, it resonated with me. i don't know that it would resonate as well with people from different backgrounds, though, especially as i noticed in many places the korean wo
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Dec 17, 2009
Steve
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Makes me wish I had written this book, except I'm nowhere near as funny and talented as the author. Growing up Asian American, I've seen all sorts of embarrassing shit I've tried to bury in my past. Annie Choi brings that stuff front and center. Makes me think my family was way normal by comparison. But it's not just for people with a chinky background. Everybody will find something they can identify with, poke fun at, and even get choked up over. It's a quick read, but a lot of fun and ev
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Sep 24, 2007
nina
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This book is hilarious! I picked it up at the bookstore and had to buy it then and there. I read passages to anyone who will listen, and to anyone who can tolerate the interruptions of my laughter and wheezing.
This book is a collection of stories and anecdotes about being Korean-American, but you don't have to be Asian to appreciate Annie Choi's writing. She takes serious subjects like cancer and relationships and makes them humorous, manageable.
For anyone who has:
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This book is a collection of stories and anecdotes about being Korean-American, but you don't have to be Asian to appreciate Annie Choi's writing. She takes serious subjects like cancer and relationships and makes them humorous, manageable.
For anyone who has:
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Apr 18, 2010
Badly Drawn Girl
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This book is truly a first, for me, ... a laugh out loud collection of essays! I am told that I have a great sense of humor but for some reason I never laugh while reading. Books that are supposed to be funny usually make me roll my eyes. I cannot tell you how many "funny" essays have left me cold. Too often what passes for funny is just sarcastic and over-embellished. Annie Choi has breathed new life into this genre. Here are essays that are not just funny but filled with More...
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Oct 20, 2009
Suzie
rated it: 
Essays about Annie Choi's life growing up in a loving buy dysfunctional Korean American family. This is not a bad book. As memoirs go, it isn't a great one either.
The funny parts are not as funny as Shalom Auslander's Foreskin's Lament. The quality and selection of the funny/neurotic parts varies too much. The family stuff isn't as deep as Amy Tan. When you put it up against something like Angela's Ashes that has both in spades? It comes up sorely lacking. Granted, I don't think Ch More...
The funny parts are not as funny as Shalom Auslander's Foreskin's Lament. The quality and selection of the funny/neurotic parts varies too much. The family stuff isn't as deep as Amy Tan. When you put it up against something like Angela's Ashes that has both in spades? It comes up sorely lacking. Granted, I don't think Ch More...
Mar 17, 2011
Kyusik
rated it:
Hilarious read for Korean Americans and those with Korean-American friends
Annie Choi's Happy Birthday or Whatever is hilarious! As a Korean American, I could hear the voices of her family and relatives and I could completely relate with their craziness. You don't even realize how crazy your culture is until someone collects all the stories in a single volume. It was also a great read for my wife, as she tried to understand my roots.
My main criticism of this book is that it ends abru More...
Annie Choi's Happy Birthday or Whatever is hilarious! As a Korean American, I could hear the voices of her family and relatives and I could completely relate with their craziness. You don't even realize how crazy your culture is until someone collects all the stories in a single volume. It was also a great read for my wife, as she tried to understand my roots.
My main criticism of this book is that it ends abru More...
Jun 20, 2008
Kikuko
rated it:
This was actually an extremely fun book to read--Choi tells several stories about growing up with her (Korean) family, especially her mother, in a comic and engaging way. If you happen to be like me, and grew up watching the early comedy of Margaret Cho (WHAT IS THIS ASS-MASTER? DOES IT MASTER THE ASS?!), you'll probably really enjoy this book.
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Jun 27, 2011
lisa
rated it: 
pretty disappointing, especially since it has been on my to read list for ages.
(review pulled from lj.)
(review pulled from lj.)
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Jan 15, 2009
Barky
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Annie Choi is hysterical. And I think her mother just got on her last nerve. But you would feel the same way if she gave away one of your stuffed animals every time one of your cousins or distant relations came to visit. So unfair! Happy Birthday or Whatever is Annie Choi’s collection of vignettes about her life, her mother, her relationships, and her own personal quirks. She’s got a lot of personality and vitality crammed into her tiny frame and she loves, loves, loves her family even thou
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Dec 21, 2010
Shirley
rated it:
I really enjoyed this memoir about a Korean-American girl and her wacky (well, maybe just Korean) family (focusing on her mom) - it was pretty funny and authentic (seemingly rife with stereotypes, but what can you do when they're reality? Yes, Koreans are obsessed with Harvard and with their daughters marrying doctors or lawyers. True story: I had a college boyfriend who eventually went to med school. Years later, a family friend asked me why I broke up with him, pointing out in all seriousness,
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Jan 08, 2010
Katie M.
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I feel weird about this book. The writing isn't stellar, but that's neither here nor there. On the one hand - yay, let's hear it for all the exasperating and hilarious things we love about our dysfunctional Korean-American families! On the other - it was written for a mainstream audience, which makes it disturbingly easy to read it as nothing more than a collection of tired stereotypes reinforced for lolz (see: Ku, Esther). I take particular issue with the liberal use of her parents' broken
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Nov 12, 2009
Melissa
rated it:
I really loved this book! The author finds humor in everyday life (although, I have to say, her everyday life is quite extraordinary) and I felt like I was by her side living through some of the hilarious situations as she wrote them. Anne goes back from childhood and traces her steps growing up in a Korean family. From her hilarious parents to her elderly grandmother, Choi makes you want to be in her family, if only for a day. While Choi wrote the book to be a comedy, there are times that made
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Dec 17, 2011
Nitya
rated it:
This book was light reading, and very fun. A memoir about growing up first generation Korean-American in California, with parents who expect you to go to Harvard and be a doctor or lawyer, or else you're a failure. To me, this was mostly about Annie Choi's relationship with her mother, and there are some really funny parts, and some touching ones. One scene that cracked me up was when Annie and her brother, as children, have to ceremonially bow in front of their grandmother, in Korea, at a hug
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Feb 28, 2010
Alisha
rated it:
Let me just start out by saying that Happy Birthday or Whatever was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The author, Annie Choi, writes about her family with wit and sarcasm and you just can't help but laugh at her somewhat tense relationship with her mother.
The thing that I loved most about this book was that it was heartwarming and humorous. There are a lot of memoirs out there written about a dysfunctional family that are depressing. "My mom was a bitch to me. My dad left and did More...
The thing that I loved most about this book was that it was heartwarming and humorous. There are a lot of memoirs out there written about a dysfunctional family that are depressing. "My mom was a bitch to me. My dad left and did More...
Jan 27, 2011
Tara
rated it:
I picked up this book by Annie Choi on another of my quickies at the airport.
Not much time…just pick up what grabs your attention kind of deal.
I wasn’t looking for anything in particular from this book…I was more after an easy, fun read than on a mission to discover the meaning of life.
And that’s exactly what I got. An easy, fun reading.
The book is about Annie’s family, strugglying in limbo between their new american culture and their strong korean roots.
The result… More...
Not much time…just pick up what grabs your attention kind of deal.
I wasn’t looking for anything in particular from this book…I was more after an easy, fun read than on a mission to discover the meaning of life.
And that’s exactly what I got. An easy, fun reading.
The book is about Annie’s family, strugglying in limbo between their new american culture and their strong korean roots.
The result… More...
Feb 21, 2008
Catherine
rated it:
I love Annie Choi's blog; love it. Love her funny voice and unique perspective on things. So I thought I'd really, really love this memoir.
Well...it was okay, I guess. Good for a few laughs here and there. There was just too much emotional distance for me to really connect with it, though. Like, this big major thing happens in her family, and from reading the back of the book, it's a major turning point. Up till that point, Choi has mostly just made fun of her mom (and sometimes her More...
Well...it was okay, I guess. Good for a few laughs here and there. There was just too much emotional distance for me to really connect with it, though. Like, this big major thing happens in her family, and from reading the back of the book, it's a major turning point. Up till that point, Choi has mostly just made fun of her mom (and sometimes her More...
Aug 27, 2008
Jeanette
rated it:
I know I’ve been talking about Annie Choi’s incredibly funny memoir as the ideal book for the Asian-American audience that loved YELL-OH GIRLS and THE DIM SUM OF ALL THINGS. But while I still believe that it’s great for Asian American young women, I also think that this is the perfect book for anyone who’s ever been exasperated by her mother no matter their ethnicity. Annie’s stories about her mother’s growing fascination with golf clothes, how her mother still doesn’t understand that vegetari
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Sep 04, 2007
I've looked at this book about three times in the stores...but have yet to buy it. (Only because I know that I should be spending reading time doing "school stuff," but that is SOOOO less fun than pleasure reading! :)
It's another memoir...I am thinking along the lines of the "But Enough about Me" book...so here's the blurb from the back of the book:
Meet Annie Choi. She fears cable cars and refuses to eat anything that casts a shadow. Her brother think More...
It's another memoir...I am thinking along the lines of the "But Enough about Me" book...so here's the blurb from the back of the book:
Meet Annie Choi. She fears cable cars and refuses to eat anything that casts a shadow. Her brother think More...
Jan 11, 2010
Jessica
rated it:
This happens to be the first book I purchased on my Kindle, I actually own the physical book but seem to have lost it in my desk at work -- Overall, well written story good transitions and some parts of the book had me laughing uncontrollably as I was reading. As an "Asian-American" the book was especially enjoyable for me because I was able to relate to some of the quirks and idiosyncrasies of the author's "Asian-American" family.
Nov 07, 2009
Michelle
rated it:
3.5, leaning toward 4. A fast and fun read--I really liked her hyperbolic sense of humor and extended metaphors, and there's a particular moment in the book that hit a little close to home and I actually cried for. While I'm a little annoyed at how Asian-American memoirs/stories in general tend to rag on their immigrant parents, the jokes were light and she balanced out their conflicts with a clear sense of love for her family.
May 14, 2009
Julie H.
rated it:
I don't know whether Annie Choi does stand-up or not, but she so could. I can actually hear her Korean mother in my head as I read the funny (but horrible) accounts of life in a Korean-American household. While the particulars are specific to Ms. Choi's Korean-American status, they "big picture" speaks to--and can be enjoyed by members of--all multi-cultural families and their extended kin. A fun little read and great concept for a stand-up tour. I'd readily go see it!
Jan 04, 2011
Osho
rated it:
There's nothing wrong with this book, which is a collection of aurobiographical stories about growing up as a first-generation Korean in the U.S. There also isn't much to make the book exceptional. With the emphasis on the family's purportedly hilarious yet incessant sniping and bickering, it is somewhat monotonous. Where Choi manages to bring some emotional complexity to the work, in recounting some of the events related to her mother's health, she is a pale imitation of Amy Tan, who told very
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Mar 12, 2008
Hot Cup O'Monkey
rated it:
I just finished reading the memoir "Happy Birthday or Whatever." It was really good; very humorous, but revealing as well. It's by a young woman--I think it's Margaret Choi-- whose parents are Korean immigrants. So she explains, quite humorously but also there is some pathos in there, about dealing with lots of cultural conflicts.
For ex., she had to wear these awful hand-me-downs from all her Korean cousins. One of these horrible outfits had the slogan, something like, "Fun More...
For ex., she had to wear these awful hand-me-downs from all her Korean cousins. One of these horrible outfits had the slogan, something like, "Fun More...
May 15, 2009
Jenny
rated it:
This was an auto-biographical funny book about life in a family where the parents are immigrants (from Korea in this story) and the kids are American. I had a lot of friends like that in high school, and the book sounded funny. It was and it was a fast, enjoyable read. Warning: if you are offended by the F-word, it popped up a few times when the author got bad family news.
May 27, 2011
Roadhouse
rated it: 
A painful experience.
I almost gave up on this book, but I was able to turn the book into something entertaining.
The only reason I finished this book is because of the Mom that was referenced in the book.
The mother is Korean. When I read the quotes from the Mother, I added a hilarious broken English accent in my head. It made me laugh.
I almost gave up on this book, but I was able to turn the book into something entertaining.
The only reason I finished this book is because of the Mom that was referenced in the book.
The mother is Korean. When I read the quotes from the Mother, I added a hilarious broken English accent in my head. It made me laugh.
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Aug 12, 2010
Jess
rated it:
This book was released in April 2007, and I should have read it a long time ago. it was written by an acquaintance of mine, and friend of my brother's.
it's fun, a quick read, and a look at a quirky girl and her quirky family.
Oh, and my brother is the JD mentioned in the Pope story in the chapter titled "Holy Crap".
it's fun, a quick read, and a look at a quirky girl and her quirky family.
Oh, and my brother is the JD mentioned in the Pope story in the chapter titled "Holy Crap".
May 07, 2010
Helene
rated it:
Easy, light read. Although Annie Choi's writing style was fun and the book was generally funny, I felt like it was too much in one little package. Some people view their lives 24/7 as something funny; it was hard to really feel the seriousness of Choi's mother having breast cancer when the whole book had a humorous tone.
The book more or less is a series of short clips/short stories from Choi's life; a little bit of insight into Korean-American life. It's light-hearted but still could More...
The book more or less is a series of short clips/short stories from Choi's life; a little bit of insight into Korean-American life. It's light-hearted but still could More...
Jun 08, 2010
Unwisely
rated it:
Not sure why I had put this on my list, but it was in that subgenre of "memoirs of women in their 30s" that I'm fond of. This memoirist (if that's a word, my spellcheck doesn't think so) happens to be the daughter of Korean immigrants, so there was humour and culture clash and all those fun things. A fun read.
Sep 10, 2010
Yun
rated it:
This book is not particularly insightful, or thought provoking, but I'm giving it a 4 star purely for the entertainment value.
I found myself laughing out loud many times while reading this book. I must admit the entertainment may have been felt more because of my Korean-Canadian background but it is worth being able to laugh about some things about my family that I grew up being embarressed about. It was very comforting to read and laugh about the same things I experienced in my p More...
I found myself laughing out loud many times while reading this book. I must admit the entertainment may have been felt more because of my Korean-Canadian background but it is worth being able to laugh about some things about my family that I grew up being embarressed about. It was very comforting to read and laugh about the same things I experienced in my p More...
