The Woo-Woo

How I Survived Ice Hockey, Drug Raids, Demons, and My Crazy Chinese Family

De: Lindsay Wong

Narrado por: Eunice Wong

In this jaw-dropping, darkly comedic memoir, a young woman comes of age in a dysfunctional Asian family whose members blamed their woes on ghosts and demons when in fact they should have been on antipsychotic meds.

Lindsay Wong grew up with a paranoid schizophrenic grandmother and a mother who was deeply afraid of the “woo-woo” - Chinese ghosts who come to visit in times of personal turmoil. From a young age, she witnessed the woo-woo’s sinister effects; at the age of six, she found herself living in the food court of her suburban mall, which her mother saw as a safe haven because they could hide there from dead people, and on a camping trip, her mother tried to light Lindsay’s foot on fire to rid her of the woo-woo.

The eccentricities take a dark turn, however, when her aunt, suffering from a psychotic breakdown, holds the city of Vancouver hostage for eight hours when she threatens to jump off a bridge. And when Lindsay herself starts to experience symptoms of the woo-woo herself, she wonders whether she will suffer the same fate as her family.

On one hand a witty and touching memoir about the Asian immigrant experience and on the other a harrowing and honest depiction of the vagaries of mental illness, The Woo-Woo is a gut-wrenching and beguiling manual for surviving family and oneself.

©2018 Lindsay Wong (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Crazy addictive, couldn't stop listening!

I was late for several appointments because I couldn't stop. A chinese family w/ extreme mental issues but they don't believe in western medicine and think their craziness is because of ghosts. This book is also HILARIOUS. I lost count how many times I laughed out loud, thanks to writer Lindsay Wong and narrator Eunice Wong. Especially loved the dad and the grandmother. Eunice Wong makesyou crack up one minute then the next you're either horrified or heartbroken. Lindsay Wong has some dark, dark humor. Unique.

Gifted writer with a sad but true story

Exceptionally well written story along the lines of Educated. The performance was also well done. I hope her next book is also autobiography but has happy stories.

insightful and honest

Wong does not hold back or mince words. She let's the reader into "the woo woo."

Crazy

Crazy book written by a crazy woman. Rambling,unconnected thoughts of what must have been and still is a hellish life. You cannot tell in the book whether the author is six or twelve or twenty years old; whether the aunt is alive or dead; whether the mother is living at home or in a mall. I pray for her that she will continue to seek help from qualified doctors and eventually lead a more normal life. I’m thankful that she didn’t choose an academic career because I would fear the consequences of her influence on students. How she ever attained any degree is beyond my comprehension. Truly a pitiful attempt to describe a horrifying condition. Sounds like she may have suffered too many brain injuries.