Fresh Off the Boat, Eddie Huang
Fresh Off the Boat, Eddie Huang
16 Rating(s)
List: $17.50 | Sale: $12.25
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Fresh Off the Boat
A Memoir

Author: Eddie Huang

Narrator: Eddie Huang

Unabridged: 7 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/29/2013


Synopsis

NOW AN ORIGINAL SERIES ON ABC • “Just may be the best new comedy of [the year] . . . based on restaurateur Eddie Huang’s memoir of the same name . . . [a] classic fresh-out-of-water comedy.”—People
 
“Bawdy and frequently hilarious . . . a surprisingly sophisticated memoir about race and assimilation in America . . . as much James Baldwin and Jay-Z as Amy Tan . . . rowdy [and] vital . . . It’s a book about fitting in by not fitting in at all.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
 
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY KIRKUS REVIEWS
 
Assimilating ain’t easy. Eddie Huang was raised by a wild family of FOB (“fresh off the boat”) immigrants—his father a cocksure restaurateur with a dark past back in Taiwan, his mother a fierce protector and constant threat. Young Eddie tried his hand at everything mainstream America threw his way, from white Jesus to macaroni and cheese, but finally found his home as leader of a rainbow coalition of lost boys up to no good: skate punks, dealers, hip-hop junkies, and sneaker freaks. This is the story of a Chinese-American kid in a could-be-anywhere cul-de-sac blazing his way through America’s deviant subcultures, trying to find himself, ten thousand miles from his legacy and anchored only by his conflicted love for his family and his passion for food. Funny, moving, and stylistically inventive, Fresh Off the Boat is more than a radical reimagining of the immigrant memoir—it’s the exhilarating story of every American outsider who finds his destiny in the margins.
 
Praise for Fresh Off the Boat
 
“Brash and funny . . . outrageous, courageous, moving, ironic and true.”—New York Times Book Review
 
“Mercilessly funny and provocative, Fresh Off the Boat is also a serious piece of work. Eddie Huang is hunting nothing less than Big Game here. He does everything with style.”—Anthony Bourdain
 
“Uproariously funny . . . emotionally honest.”—Chicago Tribune
 
“Huang is a fearless raconteur. [His] writing is at once hilarious and provocative; his incisive wit pulls through like a perfect plate of dan dan noodles.”—Interview
 
“Although writing a memoir is an audacious act for a thirty-year-old, it is not nearly as audacious as some of the things Huang did and survived even earlier. . . . Whatever he ends up doing, you can be sure it won’t look or sound like anything that’s come before. A single, kinetic passage from Fresh Off the Boat . . . is all you need to get that straight.”—Bookforum

About The Author

Eddie Huang is the proprietor of Baohaus. He hosts “Fresh Off the Boat” for VICE TV, hosted Cheap Bites for the Cooking Channel, and co-hosted episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover. He’s written for Eater.com, The New York Observer, Grantland, and his own popular blog. He lives in New York City.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Pete on December 18, 2012

This book isn't for everyone. I thought it wasn't for me when I first started reading it. Eddie Huang is the owner of Baohaus, a NYC eatery that is one of the hottest places in town. This is his autobiography, the story of his evolution from a confused kids who was fresh off the boat to an entreprene......more

Goodreads review by Jason on June 19, 2014

Huang did life his way. That's what he wants you to know. He wants you to know he liked Obama before it was cool. He wants you to know all the times he was bullied or edged out of a job because of his Taiwanese heritage. He wants you to know about the drugs he sold, people he assaulted, basically wh......more

Goodreads review by Heidi on December 28, 2019

Fresh Off the Boat is the life story of Eddie Huang. After learning about his various exploits, some of which were extremely dangerous, I was amazed that he's still around to recount them. I picked up this memoir because I've seen almost every episode of the family comedy "Fresh Off the Boat" and wan......more

Goodreads review by Carlo on September 12, 2013

Loved this shit. As a 1.5 generation immigrant, Wu Tang fan and food culture lover, this book hits extremely close to home. As a contrast, I love Steve Jobs' work, but I could not relate to his origin story and though interesting, I kind of just put the book down and never came back to it. I was hoo......more

Goodreads review by Vanessa on March 23, 2017

I enjoyed the heck out of this. It's messy and imperfect and definitely shows the signs of being a memoir written by a relatively young person (which is to say, some parts seem to reflect more, uh, actual reflection than others), but overall, I can't resist a story with this much brashness and heart......more


Quotes

“Brash and funny . . . outrageous, courageous, moving, ironic and true.”New York Times Book Review
 
“Mercilessly funny and provocative, Fresh Off the Boat is also a serious piece of work.  Eddie Huang is hunting nothing less than Big Game here. He does everything with style.”—Anthony Bourdain
 
“Bawdy and frequently hilarious . . . a surprisingly sophisticated memoir about race and assimilation in America . . . as much James Baldwin and Jay-Z as Amy Tan . . . rowdy [and] vital . . . It’s a book about fitting in by not fitting in at all.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
 
“Uproariously funny . . . emotionally honest.”Chicago Tribune
 
“Huang is a fearless raconteur. [His] writing is at once hilarious and provocative; his incisive wit pulls through like a perfect plate of dan dan noodles.”Interview
 
“Although writing a memoir is an audacious act for a thirty-year-old, it is not nearly as audacious as some of the things Huang did and survived even earlier. . . . Whatever he ends up doing, you can be sure it won’t look or sound like anything that’s come before. A single, kinetic passage from Fresh Off the Boat . . . is all you need to get that straight.”—Bookforum