E-book reviews: Eddie Huang’s Fresh Off the Boat follow-up
Florida-raised son of immigrants whose debut memoir spawned a hit TV sitcom is as funny as ever, but less abrasive, in tale of his quest for acceptance in China and mastery of Chinese cuisine
Double Cup Love: On the Trail of Family, Food, and Broken Hearts in China
By Eddie Huang
Spiegel & Grau (e-book)
★★★
Eddie Huang deserves credit for dishing up a second literary course markedly different to his first. Huang’s debut memoir, Fresh Off the Boat, led to the eponymous hit television sitcom and turned the Florida-raised, hip-hop-loving son of Taiwanese immigrants into a star. Double Cup Love is a tale of his quest for acceptance by China, land of his ethnic roots, and the approval of his Western would-be fiancée. This is topped and tailed by Huang’s efforts to master Chinese cuisine, tourism-flavoured anecdotes and meditations on cultural tensions. Huang’s rapid-fire humour has survived but maturity has usurped some of his trademark abrasiveness. This is a good thing in an artist trying to interest us in his singular world view.