8Books Review: “Fresh Off the Boat,” by Eddie Huang

All I kept thinking while I was reaching Eddie Huang’s memoir, Fresh Off the Boat, was that the one word people need to know to describe it is…bombastic. It’s not a word I use a lot, or probably that most people use a lot, but there’s something about Huang’s tone as he writes–like you’re just sitting around with him talking story. Something about it that makes me feel like I should call him Eddie.

I warn you, before I begin, not to make any comparisons or assumptions about the book based on the popular and much-written-about television series. They’re different beasts. Really. The book is profane, it’s enthusiastic, it’s straight forward, it’s not trying to skim over anything.

Let me give you a taste:

My brothers and I shared three comics, two dinosaurs, and one copy of Coming to America between the three of us. There was one blue one dinosaur that Emery and I both liked, and this big shitty orange dinosaur that neither of us wanted to play with. My kindest act as a brother was to let Emery play with the blue one. That was the apex of my accomplishments as a good older brother. I mean, damn, I ate all the kid’s food, he should at least get the blue dinosaur.

This is very much a memoir that’s both narrative in terms of dealing with major life events (friendships, freak-outs, trips, the like) but also throws in bits of reflection, advice, and soul here and there. Eddie never backs down from what he’s saying and you can see the thread throughout, that he goes with what he wants and feels and there’s never any apologies. Yes, sometimes it gets him into trouble, yes, sometimes his choices might not jive with you, but in the end, it’s a very human story. And it’s refreshing in being so blatantly unapologetic. I basically plowed through it on the subway, even being stopped once by someone who works with Eddie on VICE’s Fresh Off the Boat series (now apparently called Huang’s World) who was hyped to see the book being read. And the waiting list at the New York Public Library is at least 100 people long.

We took Julius Caesar and made it mean something entirely different than Feddell, Harold Bloom, or maybe Shakespeare ever expected….You don’t need validation from anyone, not even the author. Just like we did with Nikes, breakin’ ’em out, wearin’ ’em with no laces, tying the Air Force 1 straps backward, etc. Like the Fab Five coming through with black socks, baggy shorts, and intimidation, we didn’t have to do it the Man’s way. That’s how we resisted assimilation…It’s harder to resist, but there’s honor in it.

Regardless of how you feel about the television show, and even if, depending on your personality, you might get offended by some of the things Eddie writes about, I’d still say it’s worth a read. It adds another voice to the panoply, one that’s loud and clear. The complete story is something that the network show will never be able to get about, and you can see where the deviations are possibly picking up steam, whether it’s from the way the TV show develops his parents’ relationship or his brother’s seeming angelic, that’s not exactly the vibe you get from the book, though the number of chapters devoted to that age is slim.

I should also mention that Eddie currently is the proprietor of Baohaus in New York’s Lower East Side and he does talk about the biz in the last couple of chapters. If food is what you’re after, scattered throughout his mainly personal narrative are little in-depth bits about meals and dishes that influenced his life and showcase a deep love for food. But it’s not the main focus point. Neither are his childhood or even entirely his story. In the end, it’s so much more about an entire lifestyle and MO, an understanding of his life and race in America.

My parents were Fresh Off the Boat, I’m a chinkstronaut, and my kids will be on spaceships. I didn’t allow America to sell me in a box with presets and neither should you. Take the things from America that speak to you, that excite you, that inspire you, and be the Americans we all want to know; then cook it up and sell it back to them for $28.99. Cue Funk Flex to drop bombs on this. All my peoples from the boat, let ’em know: WEOUTCHEA.

P.S. The acknowledgements are a trip in themselves. Seriously, I kid you not when I say you can learn a lot about an author and their style from the acknowledgements and this is certainly true of Eddie Huang.

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