How to American: An Immigrant’s Guide to Disappointing Your Parents by Jimmy O. Yang| Published March 13th 2018 by Hachette Book Group| 240 Pages | Goodreads
PUBLISHER’S DESCRIPTION
“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”
✅ REVIEW
This book was nominated on the 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards’ Nonfiction category and seeing it listed there was enough reason for me to pick it up and read it.
I didn’t know who Jimmy O. Yang was but my husband saw the cover of the audiobook and told me he was Jian Yang from HBO’s Silicon Valley, he seemed overly excited that I was reading this book since that is one of his favorite shows.
The author describes his experience emigrating from Hong Kong and into America as well as his career as a comedian and actor. I enjoy reading about the immigrants’ experience, every one of them is unique and yet carry a similar sense of wonder and wisdom. I relate to it and value the perspective of other people who have gone through it.
I did not care for the description of college parties, trips to Tijuana, drug taking, etc., but I read on because there were other sections that were very interesting such as the relationship with his father.
Overall, I enjoyed it and recommend it to fans of the TV show Silicon Valley and readers of nonfiction.
✅ BOOK SOURCE AND FORMAT
Loan from Miami-Dade Library’s overdrive, audiobook
Thanks for your excellent review! I’ve not seen the TV show but saw him in an interview and found him very funny.
I haven’t seen the show either but now it makes me want to see it. He was also in Crazy Rich Asians 😊
Great review Carol!
V good review. I really liked the book also. I could see his struggle, both culturally and in starting his career.