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Teresa Wu

Serena Wu

My Mom is a Fob: Earnest Advice in Broken English from Your Asian-American Mom Paperback – January 4, 2011

by Teresa Wu (Author), Serena Wu (Author)

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Fob (noun)-derived from the acronym F.O.B. ("fresh off the boat")

Does your mom still make Peking duck instead of turkey on Thanksgiving, own a giant cleaver, or take twenty-four more napkins than she needs at Chipotle?

Your mom may be a fob.

Through their hit blog "My Mom Is a Fob," Teresa and Serena Wu have seized ownership of this formerly derogatory term, applying it instead to the heartfelt, hilarious, and thoroughly unique ways that Asian mothers adapt to American culture, from the perspective of those who love them most: their children.

Through texts, emails, phone calls, and more, My Mom Is a Fob showcases the stories of a community of Asian-American kids who know exactly what it's like to be on the receiving end of that amazing, unconditional, and sometimes misspelled love. It's about those Asian mothers who refuse to get in the car without their sun-protective arm sheaths, the ones who send us passive-aggressive text messages "from the dog" in hopes that we'll call home, and email us unsolicited advice about everything from homosexuality to constipation. In these pages you'll find solace in the fact that thousands of moms out there are as painfully nosy, unintentionally hilarious, and endearingly fobby as yours is.

Print length

240 pages
Language

English
Publisher

TarcherPerigee
Publication date

January 4, 2011
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.61 x 7.5 inches
ISBN-10

039953640X
ISBN-13

978-0399536403
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Teresa Wu and Serena Wu are the creators of mymomisafob.com and mydadisafob.com. Both spent their childhood years in Fremont, California, home to a thriving community of fobby moms. Teresa is a freelance lifestyle/travel writer who blogs at byteresawu.com, and Serena runs a design studio at serenastudio.com. They live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ TarcherPerigee; Illustrated edition (January 4, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 039953640X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0399536403
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.61 x 7.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,681,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,147 in Parenting & Families Humor
- #7,397 in Humorous American Literature
- #9,640 in Motherhood (Books)

Customer Reviews:
18 ratings

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Teresa Wu
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Serena Wu
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Serena is the co-author of My Mom is a Fob and designer residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. She can be found at http://serenastudio.com.
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Top reviews from the United States

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Deborah K. Willett

Mom's are great!

Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2013

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I read a lot and though I am not Asian I love the culture . I didn't understand some of the jokes but I love seeing the challenge and tenacity of learning to be American through the eyes of an Asian family. It makes me want an Asian mom. I wish there was more of a story about this family. They seem like the kind of family you'd like to get to know, and moms speak a universal language. I'm all for laughing at myself, but I have a hard time laughing at someone who is trying to learn. This mom is a very good sport.. In fact she's awesome!

2 people found this helpful

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tvnut

My mom is a fob

Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2013

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I have enjoyed reading this book. I'm not finished it yet, but as I read about these girls' experience with their moms, I can totally relate to them and laugh. I sometimes, feel like I am turning into my mother even though I was born in Canada. Sometimes, I get things mixed up too and I use my mom's phrases for things I can't remember the names of.

2 people found this helpful

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Kcorn

Complete description of what is in this book as well as style

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2011

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This book started as a blog. That blog became so popular it was turned into a book (detailed list of contents and chapter titles follow my first brief descriptions of the focus of the book).

Interestingly, My Mom is a Fob has gained attention at the same time as Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother , a book which is not only (as of this writing) a bestseller but has gotten a lot of controversy, comparing one woman's Asian parenting style with American parenting styles. I've read that book and also highly recommend My Mom is a Fob: Earnest Advice in Broken English from Your Asian-American Mom, written by Serena and Teresa Wu - yes, they have the same last name but are not related. My Mom is a FOb offers another take on having Asian-American parents, containing snippets of parental advice from first generation parents to their children. While Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is also recommended, each book could round out the various authors' viewpoints.

My Mom is a Fob has a humorous angle as well as explanations about Asian-American mothers - their beliefs, cooking, fashion "sense", frequent advice to their daughters, protectiveness, etc.

For the uninitiated, F.O.B. stands for "fresh off the boat" and (for the purposes of this book) describe Asian immigrants who haven't quite gotten familiar with major aspects of American culture. Unlike many of their children, they don't pick up the nuances of Facebook, Twitter, etc. My Mom is a Fob is written by women whose parents were Asian immigrants. As might be expected there is often a cultural clash, of sorts. Other times? There are simply garbled words in email messages, worth compiling as a way of poking (gentle) fun at the mothers who wrote those messages.

The authors note that F.O.B. used to be a derogatory term but no longer has the negative connotation. I have no idea if this is true but I'm throwing it out there so potential readers have an idea of the authors' take on that.

But the book goes far beyond computer sites or technology. There is all sorts of advice, information and more in the book. Much of it is hilarious, even if your parents aren't Asian-Americans. It is also important to understand that the authors aren't trying to poke fun at their parents, at least not in a critical way. They are simply relating the experiences of first-generation American children of Asian immigrant parents who have to deal with often baffling words of "wisdom" from their mothers. Email messages are also included.

Here are the various chapters, with some description of the contents of each:

Chapter 1 - Fob Fashion: the authors describe the basic clothing wardrobe of their parents (curly perm, jade bracelet, etc), including photographs that are sure to cause chuckles. I particularly liked the teddy bear hat. Apparently, some Asian- American mothers actually resort to protective sleeves placed over their arms whenever they go outside, hoping to ward off UV rays.

But what about the parental take on things? At one point, a daughter tells her mother that she shouldn't wear a t-shirt with a list of "10 Reasons why Beer is Better Than Women." The mother's response? "It's good for getting dirty!"

Don't make the mistake of assuming that this book contains only short blurbs of parent/daughter email, twitters, Facebook messages, and more. There is plenty of text devoted to explaining how Asian-American mothers (or many first generation immigrants) grapple with learning English, often struggling to make sense of terms like "passed away" versus "passed out." Insert the wrong two words in place of the others and the meaning is significantly changed - again, as the authors reveal, with often funny results

Chapter 2 focuses on such communication barriers.

The other chapters:

Chapter 3- Technological Competency

Chapter 4 - brutal honesty. An example? After a daughter cuts her hair, her mother wants to know if she has gained weight. At one point, a friend compliments a mother on her daughter's beauty. The mothers response? "What? No, look at her face!" If these responses seem harsh, it is important to read the authors' explanation of parenting techniques, ones who clearly left them with plenty of love and affection for their parents, points covered in Chapter 10 (Why We Still Love Them).

Chapter 5 - Mamas' Train of Thought

Chapter 6- The Love Doctor - dating, marriage,etc

Chapter 7 -Food and Health - exercise, diet and tips on health from the perspective of Asian-American mothers. Also, advice about how to use a public restroom, etc.

Chatper 8- Political Awareness and Political Correctness - trying to blend old values with what is considered generally acceptable to say and do in America, especially when giving advice to daughters.

Okay, I'm only giving the chapter titles from this point on because I think they are self-explanatory. Hopefully, this provides enough information to perk your interest. The book is FAR more hilarious than I can describe here and I couldn't put in the many unintentional words of advice that came across as dirty. There are plenty of those - and they are laugh out loud funny. In fact,the whole book is.....a welcome change or perhaps an addition to the also recommended Hymn of the Battle Tiger Mother.

Chapter 9 - Pop Culture

Chapter 10 - Why We Still Love Them

If you're wondering how the mothers felt about the website and the resulting book, they were generally proud. So they took this in good humor (pun intended). This is the sort of book you can grab when you have a few minutes to read a chapter, even reading those chapters randomly. If you're down in the dumps, this is the one to reach for - if you need a quick boost of cheer.

7 people found this helpful

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John Browning

Good Art

Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2015

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I don't know why, but I love these stories. I'm a white boy in the USA but Lord if all these stories don't strike a tone. I grew up in this traditional household where my Dad was a preacher, he was about like 55 when I was born, and then Mom taught Sunday school and Lord these people were conservative. Because you had to be careful. Everything rested on how carefully you managed this delicate estate: your family.

So seeing these stories, the parents, especially for me, these Dads... cracks me up, over and over. It's great culture, this compendium. It lets us re-live ourselves, lives which we no longer have, with our parents.

But I got this for my Mom, right? She's the one preaching now, Dad's long gone. So I got this for my Mom and she called me up like 1.5 years later, and was like, John? Did you? Was it YOU who got this book? This odd book, "My Mom is a Fob". Yes, and so she proceeded to tell me how she found it in the bathroom and was reading it there and was just sitting in there giggling.

Good art.

2 people found this helpful

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Drs. I

Maybe it is just me......

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2015

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I like the first part of the book, but then it get quite boring. There is a lot of variations on the same theme; the 'novelty' wears off. It would have been (probably) better if it had written in 'themes' and 'variations'! I did nit finish the book, because I lost interest.

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2015

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being a chinese-american I can readily relate to the narrative and often chuckle at various episodes.

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Kevin Xu

Brings back nostalgiac moments...

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2011

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Growing up with immigrant parents, I never truly valued the sweet moments I had in my childhood until now that they are just a memory. Reading this book brought me back to my childhood, a simpler time where I thought peking duck was a turkey every Thanksgiving and I'd get embarrassed for the stuff my mom says in the public. I was always trying to find my own identity but never truly found myself to be 'American' in America nor 'Asian' in China. But reading this book and looking back on things, I'm more proud than ever to be 'Asian-American', an identity that basically came alive on its own!

15 people found this helpful

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Amazon customer

the book is a fob

Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2011

Verified Purchase

This book is a very funny and interesting book. Even though some of the comments and conversations about the typical asian-american moms are kind of mocking them and exaggerating, but it's true and some are a bit over played. It's an overall okay book, but get's a bit tired and redundant boring till the middle. Most of the book is just talking about the things we should be aware of, and how asian moms would tell us to be careful (eg: drugs, rape, being fat, not eating enough, of needing to marry a doctor). It's an okay-read, I could relate a lot, because I'm an asian with western/eastern backgrounds.

2 people found this helpful

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