I Love Yous Are for White People: A Memoir (P.S.) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Moving. . . . Anyone who wonders what obstacles an immigrant must overcome will be fascinated by this assimilation story; Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior complements it nicely. (Library Journal )

Product Description

As a young child, Lac Su made a harrowing escape from the Communists in Vietnam. With a price on his father's head, Lac, with his family, was forced to immigrate in 1979 to seedy West Los Angeles where squalid living conditions and a cultural fabric that refused to thread them in effectively squashed their American Dream. Lac's search for love and acceptance amid poverty—not to mention the psychological turmoil created by a harsh and unrelenting father—turned his young life into a comedy of errors and led him to a dangerous gang experience that threatened to tear his life apart.

Heart-wrenching, irreverent, and ultimately uplifting, I Love Yous Are for White People is memoir at its most affecting, depicting the struggles that countless individuals have faced in their quest to belong and that even more have endured in pursuit of a father's fleeting affection.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (May 12, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061543667
• ISBN-13: 978-0061543661
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #52,107 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it, and I'm White., May 19, 2009

By	Ken Mckay "veryproudaya" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

On the surface, this book is a fun read about crazy things that happen to immigrants, gangsters, and poor people. On a deeper level, this book delves into the struggles of having a bicultural identity. I'm left questioning the extent to which my culture determines my own opinions about the book, the stories, and the people in them. I think it's crazy and a shame and admire Lac for having the courage and dedication to write such a book. I wonder if people from other cultures would think this story is unremarkable and think that Lac brought shame to his family in writing the book. A thought-provoking, heart-wrenching, sometimes funny tale of resilience.

55 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I can second that; I love yous ARE for white people, June 7, 2009

By	Jolene Chu "hellokittynme" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I heard of this book through one of the characters in the book, "Vinnie". The story line was interesting, it was something like "Asian-American growing up in the SGV". I thought to myself wow someone put their story out there, I told myself I got to read this book. At the same time, I was also ready for disappointment of a vague story that barely skims the surface of what it really is to grow up as a first generation Asian-American.

18 hours pass since my purchase at Vvromans, I've laughed a lot and cried once till I found myself at the last page at 5 am. As a first generation Asian-American, I really enjoyed knowing that my personal thoughts and experiences were shared by others. Raised by my typical Asian father, to this day of 28 years old, I probably have only said I love you to him 3 times at most but to be honest I don't recall a time. While growing up, I was only able to put those words in to cards but true to the book it takes a lot of courage and maybe even facing rejection.

59 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book! Lac taught me things I never knew., June 15, 2009

By	Sparkle (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews

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This book involved me in the experiences of families escaping Vietnam in the 60's and 70's. As a student during the 80's, our studies on Vietnam were VERY sanitized. Most importantly it was a true and brutal account of Lac's family's escape and their assimilation into American culture. They literally ran for their lives, dodging bullets to hop a ship to freedom.

It was also a lesson on acceptance and how kids need love, attention, and a feeling of importance from their parents, lest they find it somewhere else. Lac found acceptance and brothehood in gangs. Here he was, a smart boy and a talented artist, with little positive support, iIt is amazing that he made a success of himself. I can only imagine now, as an industrial- organizational psychologist how many times he has tried to make sense of his own life and that of his parents.

It was so interesting and at times, even after brutal stories, very funny as I was learning his cultural family traditions. Every culture has thier own and they can be so fascinating. I was thrilled to learn Lac's.

Through it all, he has earned the America Dream. I hope he feels some sense of pride for himself and the family has created.