Fresh Off the Boat

A Memoir

By: Eddie Huang

Narrated by: Eddie Huang

Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

"Long before I met him, I was a fan of his writing, and his merciless wit. He’s bigger than food." (Anthony Bourdain)

Eddie Huang is the 30-year-old proprietor of Baohaus - the hot East Village hangout where foodies, stoners, and students come to stuff their faces with delicious Taiwanese street food late into the night - and one of the food world’s brightest and most controversial young stars. But before he created the perfect home for himself in a small patch of downtown New York, Eddie wandered the American wilderness looking for a place to call his own.

Eddie grew up in theme-park America, on a could-be-anywhere cul-de-sac in suburban Orlando, raised by a wild family of FOB ("fresh off the boat") hustlers and hysterics from Taiwan. While his father improbably launched a series of successful seafood and steak restaurants, Eddie burned his way through American culture, defying every "model minority" stereotype along the way. He obsessed over football, fought the all-American boys who called him a chink, partied like a gremlin, sold drugs with his crew, and idolized Tupac. His anchor through it all was food - from making Southern ribs with the Haitian cooks in his dad’s restaurant to preparing traditional meals in his mother’s kitchen to haunting the midnight markets of Taipei when he was shipped off to the homeland. After misadventures as an unlikely lawyer, street fashion renegade, and stand-up comic, Eddie finally threw everything he loved - past and present, family, and food - into his own restaurant, bringing together a legacy stretching back to China and the shards of global culture he’d melded into his own identity.

Funny, raw, and moving, and told in an irrepressibly alive and original voice, Fresh Off the Boat recasts the immigrant’s story for the 21st century. It’s a story of food, family, and the forging of a new notion of what it means to be American.

©2013 Eddie Huang (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Mercilessly funny and provocative, Fresh Off the Boat is also a serious piece of work - and an important one. Eddie Huang is hunting nothing less than Big Game here - a question, a conversation, an argument: Who are we? If somebody’s going to put a thumb in your eye, it should probably be Eddie Huang. He does everything with style." (Anthony Bourdain)

"Brash, leading-edge, and unapologetically hip, Huang reconfigures the popular foodie memoir into something worthwhile and very memorable." (Publishers Weekly)

"Eddie Huang has a delightfully funny and down-to-earth narration style that captures the cultural nuances, mannerisms, and speech patterns of a diverse range of characters.... [H]is affable persona, expressive reading, occasional chuckles, and intentional digressions from the book to directly address audio listeners make his story and performance compelling and charming." (AudioFile)

Amazing

What I thought was going to be a simple "how i did it" memoir was so much more. Eddie's insights into race and culture are invaluable, and uniquely broadcast from his one-of-a-kind cadence and tone. Not only is the text itself a pleasure, but Eddie's reading of it is lively, entertaining, honest, and refreshing. He often goes "off-script" during the audiobook, elaborating in ways he doesn't in the printed version. He also genuinely re-experiences the moments he recalls, laughing along at funny stories, clearly affected by more troubling ones. As a result, this audiobook feels so much more like a conversation than any other I have listened to yet. Well done, Mr. Huang!

This book had me on the edge of tears the first couple chapters!

Loved the realness of Eddie's book can definitely relate the childhood stories with getting disciplined by an immigrant father who happened to be an alcoholic... Great inspirational book for real tho also motivates me to take a trip to NY from Cali just to try the Bous; Love the beef noodle soup recipe too oh and I learned the proper use of the semi colon aswell. Great Job

Dope.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes - it's hilarious! Being an Asian American myself, I can totally relate to his upbringing and some of the feelings of being an outsider.

What other book might you compare Fresh Off the Boat to and why?

I just finished Kevin Hart's Life Lessons and you can expect the same ridiculousness in this book.

Everything I wanted and more.

I never write on these stupid things and I don't think I ever will again. Dude spoke to my soul with Killa Cam and Biggie lyrics. He pulled at my heart strings as he spit about food cooked the right way with Pac in is words. I had a crush before but I'm slick in love now lol. I'm a black chick and somehow he understands MY struggle in this world. This man could write a book about his toenail and I'll read it! I'm cooking the beef noodle soup recipe TONIGHT! Stand up Man....you ILL.

SO GOOD!

If you grew up in the 90s, you will absolutely love this. It's like you're listening to a friend's life story. When the book finished, I was kind of bummed we couldn't "hang out" anymore.

Pure awesomeness...

Loved everything about it. I wish I had known sooner. Inspiring :) here are some more words to make it over 20. Peace :p

Great storytelling

Great story of finding identity and going through a journey of rough childhood. Lots of funny anecdotes as well.

Excellent!

Loved Eddie Huang's story and narration. It really brings to life what it is to be someone from a different culture living in this country. I don't come from an Asian background but so much of his experience with FOB parents is something that will resonate with anyone who comes from another country. Family and food.

a heartfelt, honest and humorous memoir

I thought this book was well done. I really enjoyed it and eddie huang's narration felt as though he were just telling the story of his life because, well, it is his life. Definitely recommend

not like the TV show

really enjoyed the book! when eddie tells his story, you can feel his pride. AWESOME!