After my last review (the almost moon) I needed a mindless, surefire win. I read Annie Choi’s previous memoir, Happy Birthday or Whatever, a couple years ago and passed by her memoir, not realizing she had a new book, at Barnes & Nobel after the holidays. Memoirs are probably my favorite style of book, maybe I have voyeuristic tendencies, because I love peeking into peoples lives. And people who write memoirs have way more interesting lives then me.
Shut up was a quick and easy read (took less then two days to finish, and I worked one of those days). Annie mostly shares stories about her eccentric Korean family which are sweet and funny. She starts each section with a ‘letter’ to someone or thing that vaguely leads in to the essay. Minor quibble- the font in the letters was different then the essays. My OCD definitely got triggered.
Her essays are also very personal, discussing her family almost exclusively. In her previous book she wrote about her mother’s health issues. This was a bit more lighthearted, although my favorite essay was probably the one about her father and his mortality. It really captured the kooky, sweet and funny notes she had touched on the whole book.
Reccomend. ?
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