Hot Cup O'Monkey's review
Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters
by Annie Choi
Hot Cup O'Monkey's review
Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters by Annie Choi
Hot Cup O'Monkey's review
rating:
recommended for: everyone
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 of Soup Brings Spring", and all her American classmates accused her of thinking soup was fun.
Her mom is just a mess!
Margaret graduated from Berkley, then wrote the book in grad school at Columbia. In the acknowledgments she wrote that writing was as much fun as gouging her eyes with a fork, so she was grateful to all those people who kept sharp objects away from her during the writing process.
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 of Soup Brings Spring", and all her American classmates accused her of thinking soup was fun.
Her mom is just a mess!
Margaret graduated from Berkley, then wrote the book in grad school at Columbia. In the acknowledgments she wrote that writing was as much fun as gouging her eyes with a fork, so she was grateful to all those people who kept sharp objects away from her during the writing process.
