Fresh off the Boat by Eddie Huang

ABC's Fresh off the Boat is the first show about an Asian American family since Margaret Cho's All-American Girl from the mid-90s. The earlier show gets a nod when the Huang family is watching it in their season finale. Overall, Fresh is a cleverly funny show that deals with the struggles of the Huang family to fit in with American culture. However, being on a broadcast network like ABC prevents it from being as direct and biting as Eddie Huang's memoir of the same name.

Huang himself narrates each episode, a tactic comparable to The Wonder Years but maybe closer in tone to Everybody Hates Chris, for which Chris Rock narrated stories based on his own childhood. Eddie Huang is a unique personality, proclaiming himself a "rotten banana" because of the way he relates to hip-hop music and black culture. He always felt ostracized in school for being Asian and for eating "stinky" Chinese food for lunch, and ever since hearing Dr. Dre's album The Chronic, he has felt affinity for the struggles expressed in rap. Huang never shies from discussing racism and stereotypes; after all, his title is a phrase commonly used derogatorily toward immigrants.

The TV series focuses on Eddie at the age of 12, when he and his family have just moved from DC's Chinatown to Orlando, Florida, when his father Louis wanted to open a restaurant. Of course the book has a much longer view of his life, reaching to the present day when Eddie opened his own eatery. What the show captures well from the book is Eddie's preoccupation with being cool, from getting the latest music and shoes (Jordans) to wanting his mother to pack more American food for his lunches. But of course the series, being an ongoing sitcom, has to flesh out the rest of the family and include more humor, which is where it strays from Eddie's real life/memoir.

In Fresh off the Boat the book, there are details like the physical abuse Eddie sustained from his father, which will certainly never be depicted on ABC. I cannot see the network allowing a "very special episode" involving Randall Park's Louis beating his son, on a show that is mainly focused on comedy, as much as Eddie Huang may want to see that topic addressed.* It is readily apparent that the show was created by the same woman who helmed the off-the-wall Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23.

This is another book that I feel benefits from hearing the audiobook, read by the author, if you can get your hands on it. Since the slang-and-metaphor-heavy prose is very much written in Eddie's "voice", hearing his actual voice helps to understand his intended meaning, as well as getting the proper pronunciations for the sprinklings of Chinese. Although he dabbled in standup comedy, it's clear that he was always meant to become a chef, since his strongest memories are tied to food, and his descriptions of meals are as evocative as any Michael Pollan book. His is a unique and compelling point of view, and even if the show waters down the events of his life, it's worth watching for a perspective that is underrepresented by the media as a whole.

To buy the book, related merchandise, or to learn more about Eddie Huang himself, check out the website for his Manhattan restaurant BaoHaus.

*Eddie Huang Gives 'Fresh Off the Boat' a "B"; Pushes for Domestic Violence Arc