How to American
An Immigrant's Guide to Disappointing Your Parents
Ratings16
Average rating3.6
15
An Immigrant's Guide to Disappointing Your Parents
Ratings16
Average rating3.6
Standup comic, actor and fan favorite from HBO's Silicon Valley and the film Crazy Rich Asians shares his memoir of growing up as a Chinese immigrant in California and making it in Hollywood. "I turned down a job in finance to pursue a career in stand-up comedy. My dad thought I was crazy. But I figured it was better to disappoint my parents for a few years than to disappoint myself for the rest of my life. I had to disappoint them in order to pursue what I loved. That was the only way to have my Chinese turnip cake and eat an American apple pie too." Jimmy O. Yang is a standup comedian, film and TV actor and fan favorite as the character Jian Yang from the popular HBO series Silicon Valley. In How to American, he shares his story of growing up as a Chinese immigrant who pursued a Hollywood career against the wishes of his parents: Yang arrived in Los Angeles from Hong Kong at age 13, learned English by watching BET RapCity for three hours a day, and worked as a strip club DJ while pursuing his comedy career. He chronicles a near deportation episode during a college trip Tijuana to finally becoming a proud US citizen ten years later. Featuring those and many other hilarious stories, while sharing some hard-earned lessons, How to American mocks stereotypes while offering tongue in cheek advice on pursuing the American dreams of fame, fortune, and strippers.
Reviews with the most likes.
I was looking for a light read and I got one.
Unfortunately the author's talk at Google's is just as informative and more entertaining.
I enjoyed reading most about his return visit to Hong Kong, his personal reflections on identity and belonging. Even tempered with self-deprecation, the rest is a little bit too in the belly of noxious standards of success and masculinity. I would be like his father, though, and have an unspoken devotion and respect—explicit expression of love and pride always comes across as too-American obsessions.
I gave this book a shot knowing nothing about the author than the fact that he is an actor in Crazy Rich Asians, which I have not seen. But, the story of someone who came to the US from another country interested me.
I listened to the audiobook read by the author. It flowed well and felt like sitting and listening to someone tell their story in person. Big thumbs up for that as it's not something many can do.
I found that identified with Yang in his twenties, although I made different choices and chose different priorities. Yang's underlying motivation was to pursue his dream of being a comedian. He was willing to make big sacrifices to achieve the dream. I look back on some of the ideas I had that I let go because I didn't want to pay the price. Some of those I'm glad I didn't pursue–mainly because I was immature and had immature ideas. But there are some over the years I wish I had been willing to work harder and sacrifice more. Yang's book bring these up in my mind.
Yang shares his struggle to fit in and find a place of belonging in his new country. I believe many face this struggle in our home country. Still, Yang's story gives a voice to the struggle.
With all of this are some things I struggled with. The amount of profanity in the book is forefront. This would probably not be a surprise to those familiar with his work. Secondly, the easy acceptance of promiscuity and drug use were subjects I found uncomfortable. These topics are reflected in my rating.
I'm glad I listened and had a chance to see life from another person's perspective. While I have different values, I've come to see Yang as a real person with talents and struggles. It reminds me that there is no way to totally understand another.
