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

"Mining the age-old tensions between mothers and daughters, Choi's strong debut is an uproariously funny memoir of growing up with her Korean American family in Los Angeles.... [T]hese are indelible, poignant, and often riotously funny scenes of a daughter's frustrations and indestructible love." -- Booklist

A humorous story about the relationship between a first generation Korean-American and her parents, an alternately funny and poignant narrative showing how it feels to have one foot firmly planted on each side of the Pacific Ocean.

Annie Choi's very Korean mother never stopped annoying her thoroughly Americanized daughter. Growing up near Los Angeles, Annie was continually exasperated by both her mother's typical Korean harangues--you must get all As and attend Harvard--and non-so-typical eccentricities: stuffing the house with tacky Pope paraphernalia.

But when Annie's mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, the uneasy relationship between mother and daughter changes. Choi's witty and accessible prose will appeal to any daughter of immigrants, and to anyone who's had a challenging relationship with their mother.

Author: Annie Choi
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Published: 04/03/2007
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.41lbs
Size: 7.98h x 5.78w x 0.63d
ISBN: 9780061132223

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 12/15/2006 pg. 1252
Booklist 03/15/2007 pg. 17
Entertainment Weekly 04/13/2007 pg. 77
Publishers Weekly 01/01/2007

About the Author
Choi, Annie: -

Annie Choi was born and raised in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and Columbia University, she lives in New York City.