Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters

by Annie Choi

Book Overview

Meet Annie Choi. She fears cable cars and refuses to eat anything that casts a shadow. Her brother thinks chicken is a vegetable. Her father occasionally starts fires at work. Her mother collects Jesus trading cards and wears plaid like it's a job. No matter how hard Annie and her family try to understand one another, they often come up hilariously short.

But in the midst of a family crisis, Annie comes to realize that the only way to survive...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061132225
• ISBN13: 9780061132223
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.8" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Terrific--Poignant and Funny All in One

What a delightful read! Annie Choi writes with warmth and wit as she shares her experience growing up as a Korean-American in Los Angeles. It is a personal story told with self-deprecating humor focusing on her relationship with her mother. Though her Korean-American experience is central to her memoir, it is also the story of many immigrant families attempting to blend traditional customs with the new in a land where so many describe themselves as hyphenated Americans. Annie shows herself to be a rebellious child endlessly arguing with her mother over wearing hand-me-down clothes and being pressured to be the perfect straight "A" student, but as she matures, she develops a deep affection for her mother, her family, and her cultural heritage. I anxiously await her next book!

Great, fast read!

If you were ever born, you can probably relate to something in this book! The only problem I had with it is that it wasn't longer. Ms. Choi's writing made me see and hear all the family members in her book, and also made me giggle a lot. Unfortunately, as these things go, I finished it in 4 short, giggly hours. I would recommend it to anyone though, because most people have families, and if you have one, you can certainly sympathize with some of the situations in the book. I can't wait to read something else from her!

better than david sedaris

Choi has a sharp contemporary wit. It's a good and entertaining read about the awkward moments growing up as a cultural hybrid (which there are few good books of). Choi has a definitive and unique voice peppered wtih sarcasm, but also shows moments of vulnerability and self criticism.

laugh-out-loud funny

I LOVE this book. Choi manages to capture the infuriating as well as the tender and touching aspects of mother-daughter relationships, and family relationships in general. The book is hilariously funny and engaging. Choi does not spare herself from the ruthlessly honest gaze with which she examines those around her.

great memior...very entertaining

This is a great memoir and really hilarious! Its just as good writing as Augusten Burroughs or David Sedaris, and written in a similar witty and sarcastic tone. But Choi's stories are much more accessible and way easier to relate to, yet the author and her family are still quite crazy in their own way. She has an incredible voice and the dialogue is very funny. My girlfriend read it and she really liked it too. I recently saw her read from the book at Barnes and Noble and it was one of the best readings I've ever been too...very entertaining and she had us all laughing.