Listen to the Squawking Chicken...A memoir (sort of), by Elaine Lui

 

This is a memoir like no other. Canadian author Elaine Lui wrote this memoir about her relationship with her mother, a Chinese immigrant to Canada from Hong Kong. Ms. Lui's mother, nicknamed in Chinese "Squawking Chicken" because of her loud and screechy voice, is a powerful and dominant personality who controls much of her daughter's life and choices, including everything from her morning routing (put moisturizing drops in her eyes and eat a papaya) to her choice of boyfriend or which house they purchase. Much of her demands are attributed to the principles of feng shui, but even she will contradict those principles when it suits her. Many of the anecdotes that Ms. Lui tells in this book are outlandish, including a series of ghost stories, but her mother uses these tales as "proof" for why Ms. Lui should behave a certain way, and Ms. Lui seems to take these stories at face value. Some of the tales are gross and uncomfortable; I found one in particular, (involving a dead pet), to be heartbreaking, although Ms. Lui presents it in such a deadpan manner that I wonder about her level of empathy. Overall, I liked this book, and found both the comedic and cultural aspects to be interesting and fun.