Where Are You Really From

by Elaine Hsieh Chou

*A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2025 BY LITHUB, THE OC REGISTER, THE MILLIONS AND MORE * NAMED A BEST BOOK OF AUGUST 2025 BY PEOPLE MAGAZINE * NAMED A MUST-READ BOOK BY THE CHICAGO REVIEW OF BOOKS * THE STRAND’S AUGUST 2025 PICK-OF-THE-MONTH * SELECTED AS AN AUGUST 2025 READ BY VULTURE *

“Scintillating … These expressive and atmospheric tales mesmerize” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Chou is gifted at storytelling with a surrealistic bent … Sharp storytelling that bends and blurs genre expectations.” —Kirkus (starred review)

From the critically-acclaimed author of Disorientation, a multi-genre story collection that explores the limits and possibilities of storytelling

A mail order bride from Taiwan is packed up in a cardboard box and sent via express shipping to California, where her much older husband awaits her. Two teenage girls meticulously plan how to kill and cook their downstairs neighbor. An American au pair moves to Paris to find herself, only to find her actual French doppelgänger. A father reunites with his estranged daughter in unusual circumstances: as a background actor on the set of her film. A writer’s affair with a married artist tests the line between fact and fiction, self-victimization and the victimization of others.

In these six singular stories and a novella that pivot from the terrible to the beautiful to the surreal, Elaine Hsieh Chou confronts the slipperiness of truth in storytelling. With razor-sharp precision and psychological acuity, she peels back the tales we tell ourselves to peer beneath them: at our treacherous desires, our self-deceptions and our capacity for cruelty, both to ourselves and each other. Expansive and provocative, Where Are You Really From is a visionary achievement.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Contemporary, Horror, Literary Fiction, Adult, Short Story Collection

350 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 19, 2025

About the author

Elaine Hsieh Chou is a Taiwanese American author and screenwriter from California. Described as “the funniest, most poignant novel of the year” by Vogue, her debut novel Disorientation was a New York Times Editors’ Choice Book, New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award finalist and Thurber Prize finalist. A former Rona Jaffe Graduate Fellow at New York University, her Pushcart Award–winning short fiction appears in Guernica, Black Warrior Review, Tin House Online, Ploughshares and The Atlantic, while her essays appear in The Cut and Vanity Fair. She is a Fred R. Brown Literary Award recipient, a Sundance Episodic Lab Fellow and a Gotham Series Creator to Watch. Her work has been supported by the Harry Ransom Center, the New York Foundation for the Arts and Hedgebrook’s Writers-in-Residence Program.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

all the authors i like should drop short story collections.

doing mini reviews for every story:

CARROT LEGS
halfway through this i forgot it was a short story collection and thought this was the beginning of a novel. we are off to a rip-roaring start.
rating: 4

MAIL ORDER LOVE
how are these short stories making me feel more things than most full-length books?
rating: 4

YOU PUT A RABBIT ON ME
sorry to our protagonist, but if i had a cool french doppelganger who was also my best friend we would never have a falling out. that's a generational ego boost and i would never let it go.
rating: 3

FEATURED BACKGROUND
after a short and strange parisian intermission, we are back to insane emotional impact and investment in characters. she can't keep getting away with this!
rating: 4

HAPPY ENDINGS
i really enjoy violent female rage.
rating: 3.5

THE DOLLHOUSE
fun concept but it got annoying. which is how ultimately i always feel about strong style choices.
rating: 3

CASUALTIES OF ART
this is painfully good at embodying its repugnant male narrator. maybe less good at the style choice of having a billion different endings.
rating: 4

OVERALL
an extremely varied collection with some stories i will remember forever and some i have already forgotten. i recommend.
rating: 3.5

(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories can be a drag to read though the ones in this collection were entertaining. Props to Elaine Hsieh Chou for crafting short stories with engaging scenes and dynamic premises. The topics are timely and thorny such as body image for Asian girls living in different countries, sex work in Asia, and internalized racism in dating and relationships. Chou is a clever writer and she approaches these topics in nuanced ways, while at the same time conveying the seriousness of these issues and imparting important social messages.

My main constructive critique of this collection is that at times I felt like these stories were more about conveying societal messages than developing three-dimensional characters. The stories didn’t feel overly didactic, though I still felt that many of the characters could have been written with more emotional depth. That said, while I was going to give this collection a 3.5-star rating, the novella at the end “Casualties of Art” flipped it to a four-star rating – this story truly felt like Chou’s debut novel Disorientation except from an Asian American man’s perspective. The story contains biting themes related to misandry and the intersection of race and self-worth. I was hooked on the plot and I’m glad Chou gave us a happy (though realistically bittersweet) ending. Overall, Chou is a writer to watch and I’m looking forward to whatever she publishes next.

[Nico · Rating 5 out of 5]

I skipped sleep last night to read this and it was the objectively correct decision. This collection is straight fire. I do not regret a thing

[Sam Cheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chou, I’mma newly minted fan.

One novella, six short stories, and ongoing encounters with intriguing premises and complicated characters to grow an attachment towards. Chou initially crafted these stories during her MFA program, and there’s nothing anodyne here. The author’s writing style is edgy; her observations, incisive; and overall, the project feels wonderfully even. To name several settings, Chou takes readers to a dumpling shop in Taipei, a cramped apartment in Paris, an AI-serviced brothel in HK, and a lodge hosting fellows in an artists’ residency program in America. I believe Carrot Legs and Featured Background are the only stories that aren’t speculative fiction, and the latter is the story I enjoyed the least, but I truly relished them all.

If pressed to choose a favorite, The Dollhouse stands out because of how Chou quick-shifts the narrator. The unnamed mom plays with her daughter, and the dolls in their game turn into characters within a story the mom invents. The mom speaks and thinks as the unnamed character (i.e., in first person) to her daughter. Similarly, Chou passes the narrative role from one character to another in Mail Order Love, Featured Background, and Happy Endings. The story begins with a “protagonist” I would learn and with whom I sympathize. Then, Chou raises a counterpoint’s perspective from obscurity without returning to the former; suddenly, I change my allegiance. Chou organizes this pattern of rearrangement to flow smoothly and effectively. Maybe this is called experimental—I’m not sure. However it’s categorized in the lit. world, it exemplifies a tactic of framing references that I aim to teach students to embrace in their epistemology.

This is my first time reading Chou’s work, and I am primed for more. That said, Penguin Press denied my request for an ARC, so this is my informal request to Chou and her future publisher(s) to please reconsider sending me a galley proof in the future.

I rate Where Are You Really From 4.5 stars.

[Queralt✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting short-story collection by Elaine Hsieh Chou. The stories are sort of Black Mirror-esque with a focus on feminism, criticizing capitalism, and migration/diaspora. Themes I enjoy but I found this to be a mixed bag for me. Overall, great social commentary but I struggled with the pacing, plot, and characters of the majority if the stories.

-Carrot Legs: Satire on beauty culture and the grotesque lengths of self-modification in Taiwan. The imagery (the body as consumable) is weirdly literal. I loved the social commentary and how the story regurgitated the message that beauty is a choice, thus “the good should only favour the beautiful.” 10/10 commentary but I didn’t care about the plot or the characters. 2.5 stars.

-Mail Order Love: Dark humor meets horror realism. A man makes two purchases from different catalogues in a single breath: a migrant wife and a ring. The woman arrives inside a Styrofoam box which is a perfect start for a story that covers the commodification of women and marriage as logistics. The sentimental happy ending ruined it for me. My favorite aspects in the story were how it deals with capitalism and feminized migration (through unethical means). 3.5 stars.

-You Put a Rabbit on Me: US-born Elaine moves to France to be an au pair and discover herself. There, she meets her doppelgänger: France-born Elaine. It’s an identity crisis in stereo. It’s not really about France, it’s about being two versions of yourself and hating both. The surrealism works but I had issues with the pacing. Loved the more “thrilling/urgent” bits at the end more than the sapphic aspects of it (it was just weird cuz of the doppelgänger situation lol my brain registered them as identical twins). 4 stars.

-Featured Background: An estranged dad sneaks into the film set of his daughter’s new movie, which has… questionable ethics. It’s basically a movie with a 40min scene of an actress that looks like the daughter getting raped. Deals with exploitation, generational trauma, and parenthood. It’s an ugly story with no good guys. 3 stars.

-Happy Endings: Forgot it the second I finished it. 2 stars?

-Dollhouse: Dystopian allegory about immigration and bodily autonomy disguised as surreal dream logic. The dollhouse workers deciding fates of the dolls alludes at how bureaucratic gods decide who gets a visa or a scholarship or proper reproductive care, etc. 4 stars.

-Casualties of War: A story about an affair. I found the main character so annoying. I could not give a shit about it because the dude annoyed me 🫠 1.5 stars?

[Amy ☁️ (tinycl0ud) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a five-star read to me. I didn't expect the stories to be so varied given that they belong—very broadly—under the same thematic umbrella, but this collection of seven short stories felt like an authorial flex, a taster of her range. It made me excited to see what the author was going to publish next. Would it be SF? Litfic? Horror? It seems she can do it all.

'You Put a Rabbit on Me' was my favourite. It's about an Asian American woman who dreams of finding herself in France, a country she romanticises. She gets a job in Paris and runs into her doppelgänger, except this other her grew up in France and is much closer to her concept of her ideal self. It's a trippy, unhinged narrative about inferiority, unstable identities, and how one's biggest obstacle is invariably the self.

'Mail Order Love' subverted expectations of the power dynamic between an older White man and his mail-order bride from Taiwan, a woman younger than his daughter. It focussed on the reasons why a foreign woman might choose to move to the US and was surprisingly charitable in its depiction of the man as someone who was just lonely, not lecherous at all. It's difficult to say who had power over/ used whom, or how meaningful such an approach would be when neither character can be reduced to stereotypes.

'Happy Endings' had bite and did not shy away from exploring the intersection between gender and race, dramatising how East Asian women get reduced to mere sex objects by white men no matter how advanced the society. 'The Dollhouse' emphasises how little power women actually have over the scope of their dreams and their own reproductive futures. I really loved the endings to both stories. 'Casualties of Art' reminded me of Tulathimutte's 'Rejection' in the best way.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love short story collections, but it's rare to come across collections without a dud or two thrown in. Five star short story collections are something to be treasured. This collection (which includes a novella) was just that. Every story was just as great as the last, and the writing was stellar as well - so wonderfully descriptive while still being quick.

Highly recommend the audiobook, but I plan to pick up the physical as well. Can't wait to dive into the author's first book, Disorientation, too!

[zai · Rating 4 out of 5]

rtc

[angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of those rare short story collections where i liked every one. :’) sits somewhere between the short stories of tony tulathimutte and ling ma.

i liked this so much that when i was reading this earlier today and suddenly felt the pressing urge to go 💩 myself, i contemplated bringing this book into the bathroom w me. that’s a RARE occurrence. anyway if ur reading this elaine i did not desecrate ur book ok bye !!!! 💖

[Sarah Reiff]

Ok I really liked this and thought the order of stories had great momentum. Novella at the end was definitely my favorite, and the Dollhouse I also especially enjoyed. Love short stories fr

[Kara Cecchi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elaine Hsieh Chou’s Where Are You Really From is a masterclass in blending biting satire with aching humanity. Across this collection of short stories, Chou dissects the strange, dark corners of modern life, where absurdity and poignancy often coexist. Her characters, flawed and painfully human, stumble through eccentric and often surreal worlds that feel at once bizarrely exaggerated and uncomfortably real.

Each story feels like entering a new reality, some speculative, some eerily familiar, all united by Chou’s incisive social critique. There’s the heartbreaking portrait of an alcoholic, neglectful father that refuses to flatten its subject into cliché; a chilling, near-futuristic tale of revenge that could’ve been ripped straight from Black Mirror; and a speculative exploration of anti-immigrant rhetoric in an America where capitalism has run completely unchecked. Elsewhere, Chou ventures into magical realism, where a woman’s journey abroad to “find herself” becomes unsettlingly literal, blurring the line between self-discovery and self-duplication. Every morning, I wake with thoughts of this story, weeks after reading.

But despite their wildly different settings, from dystopian techscapes to intimate domestic spheres, these stories share a throughline: Chou’s sharp, fearless commentary on identity, power, and belonging. Her satire is razor-edged but never cruel, and beneath every absurd twist lies an undercurrent of empathy. The result is a collection that’s at once haunting, hilarious, and deeply human.

Chou’s ability to balance emotional depth with biting humor makes these stories impossible to put down. She invites readers to laugh, cringe, and reflect, often all within the same page.

[em · Rating 2 out of 5]

at what point is writing short stories just a cop out because you can't make a full-length novel that's interesting enough?

here i am again, the world's biggest short story hater. i only picked this new book up by chou because i really enjoyed her previous novel, disorientation. because of that i feel i'm justified to my abhorrence here.

each story was derivative, one thinly-disguised commentary on some societal ill (i.e. capitalism, immigration problems) after another, but that's where the critique ended. since each story was not commenting on anything particularly new about society, i thought for sure there would be a larger, overarching theme at work here that connects each story. NOPE. we didn't even get a motif worth mentioning. at least expand on the title of the work-- where the inspiration comes from, why it matters, make that a theme! instead it all fell flat.

ALSO maybe this is a me issue, but since when are short stories 70, 80, 90+ pages long? that is not a short story. i fear we may be a bit confused.

the only story even worth a damn was "mail order love". that one was brilliant! i could've read an entire book based around that concept. that was a plot worth exploring and the others should've been left on the cutting room floor.

each story was disjointed and ultimately, in my opinion, uninteresting.

[Melody Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A strong collection of stories from an enormously talented writer.

“Carrot Legs” — A weird story about pseudo-sisters and how family can disappoint you.

“Mail Order Love” — Surprisingly heartfelt in its complexity. I really liked this one.

“You Put a Rabbit On Me” — This one is disconcerting in the best way.

“Featured Background” — I think this one reminded me the most of Disorientation. Darkly satirical. Cutting.

“Happy Endings” — Feminine rage. Yes.

“The Dollhouse” — Perhaps my least favorite voice of the collection. Still engrossing.

“Casualties of Art” — I love a story where I can root this hard against the main characters.

Elaine Hsieh Chou is doing incredible work. Being on the next one.

*ARC via NetGalley*

[Misha · Rating 4 out of 5]

(rounded up from 3.5)

I wish every author I enjoy tried their hand at short stories because I'm sure lots of them have cool ideas that aren't quite right for an extended novel treatment, but would be interesting little dips into fun little worlds and scenarios.

My enjoyment rate on these stories (including the novella-sized one at the end) was slightly better than 50-50, but even with the short stories that I didn't really enjoy, I did still find them engaging enough to read through.

My favorite, I think, was the final story, mostly because I enjoy deeper characterisation, and the final story was the longest one and therefore offered more of an opportunity for examining the motivations of these enigmatic characters.

[Sarah M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Chou’s novel Disorientation so much I have read it multiple times now so was so excited to pick up her short story collection. This might be the best short story collection I’ve ever read! Chou is so so good at warping and distorting stories and materials in a way that makes them so interesting.

[juliette · Rating 4 out of 5]

elaine hsieh chou does it again and ensures i will read anything she ever writes

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

After now having read two of her books, I can safely say I’m a fan of Chouh’s writing. She places eccentric, flawed characters in bizarre or interesting settings in these short stories, but she writes them with such subtle detail and realism that the stories feel both uncanny and true-to-life. I loved this mix in her other book Disorientation as well. I’ve seen people in the reviews compare this book to Black Mirror, and I have to agree. I don’t necessarily have a strong favorite story, I just loved the different tone and messaging of each one. Can’t wait for more of her work!

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

“In America, I was not beautiful, but in Taiwan, I was ugly.”

holy fuck if that doesn't capture the quintessential asian american experience. i’ve read stories set in taiwan before and i found them heavy on descriptions of night markets and food stalls and light on what it is like to actually be there, or in fact anywhere, as a female asian body. chou hits on the latter 100%.
her stories explore the darker natures of humanity; she turns over the stones that hide our shame and asks, what happens if i follow this impulse? these are speculative, trippy stories for fans of ken liu and ling ma. they make me think of love death and robots and what contemporary japanese women's literature might be like if it wasn't translated by white men.
the one bone i have to pick is that the messaging app they use in taiwan is line and not wechat, something that would have easily been picked up on by an asian editor, but alas, there is not room enough for us in that industry yet.

[Roxanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t usually gravitate toward short story collections but after loving Disorientation I had to pick this up and it did not disappoint. The stories are clever, uncanny, and full of surprises. Chou’s such a phenomenal storyteller and I was impressed by how unique each one felt. My favorites were Featured Background, Happy Endings, and Casualties of Art but honestly, I loved them all.

[Elena L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

[ 4.5/5 stars ]

There's a boundless exploration of the book's title "Where are you really from", in which each short story feels like a profound character study of selfish characters with their own driving desires and yearning for identity. Through them, Chou makes a searing commentary on marriage, identity, (dysfunctional) relationships, assimilation, bots, parents' sacrifice, motherhood, gender roles, societal expectations, what kind of story one is allowed to tell...

By unpeeling the characters with certain intimacy, these stories are nuanced in offering different versions of scenes that wander between reality and fiction, making me curious about how much of this book is autobiographical. Chou is brilliant at reinventing life, crafting episodes that contain unruly but cruel truths while being effective at highlighting our self-consciousness.

In 'Carrot legs', Chou captures perspectives from Taiwanese x Taiwanese diaspora, in how the (toxic) beauty standards and culture/traditions shape us. Reading this story felt like visiting Taiwan, the familiar places and idioms filled my heart with much joy and made me utterly nostalgic. It was also reflective of my relationship with my own biao jie and this was, especially, my favorite story. In 'Mail Order love', a mail bride is sent from Taiwan to California to a much older husband - Chou exposes love in its core, examining what cannot be forced or bought while the immigration ban feels too real. Other stories like 'The dollhouse' (a creepy one) adopt a more surreal touch, in which the whole world building and characters' acts of delusion exude real life's injustices.

Often incorporating the political conflict between Taiwan and China as a background, WHERE ARE YOU REALLY FROM is a visionary work about our humanity, provocative at rendering things we dare to think but are refrained from saying. With satisfying length, this follow-up collection doesn't disappoint after DISORIENTATION (a favorite) and I think it is worthy of some literary prize.

[ I received an ARC from the publisher - Penguin Press . All thoughts are my own ]

[Erin Crane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more than I did, but I still really enjoyed it!

The first story threw me off because what was that ending? 😂 I couldn’t make sense of it and it felt tonally off from the rest. But after that I was into it.

The stories touch on race, isolation, objectification, etc. I loved all the themes. They were thought-provoking and often had protagonists that were not the best people. I like messy stuff like that!

The stories are all on the long side for short stories, and of course the last is a novella or novelette. In that way it reminded me of Stag Dance by Torrey Peters. Normally I don’t like long short stories, but in this case and in Stag Dance it works. I think the stories keep up a good pace and stay focused, which is really the key bit for me when it’s going to be longer.

I think You Put a Rabbit on Me was my favorite. The chaos of a doppelgänger is a good time. Also Featured Background for how it played with perception of and assumptions as a reader.

Looking forward to more from Chou 🙂

[Abby (herliterarylife) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Penguin Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy!

Average rating: 4.5⭐️

Individual story ratings:

Carrot Legs - 4
Mail Order Love ® - 5
You Put a Rabbit On Me - 4.5
Featured Background - 5
Happy Endings - 4.5
The Dollhouse - 4.5
Casualties of Art: A Novella - 5

Favorites: Mail Order Love ® and Featured Background

I loved this collection so much—every aspect of every story was so well-crafted that I was equally invested in each one, which is not something I can say for most collections I’ve read.

The characters in each story were so compelling and so different from one another. Chou was able to make me feel empathetic towards characters that probably didn’t deserve much (if any) of my empathy. It was pleasantly surprising, and this nuance made these characters feel very real.

Each story also had a completely unique tone and setting. In this collection, you’ll find poignancy and reflection from an alcoholic and neglectful father, revenge in a Black Mirror-esque future, speculation on the progression of anti-immigrant sentiment and rhetoric in America combined with unfettered capitalism, magical realism where a woman travels to a foreign country to find herself and quite literally finds herself, and more. What ties each of these together is Chou’s sharp social commentary on a range of issues, and her ability to naturally insert these themes into stories with vastly different backdrops is incredible. On top of that, they’re genuinely entertaining and hard to put down.

This entire collection really was just one banger after the next, and each story left me satisfied and excited to read the next. I never felt that a story ended too soon or was rushed. These stories are all longer than what you’ll typically find in a collection, and I think that really helped in their sense of completeness: they each had more room to breathe and be fully fleshed out.

If you’re someone who struggles with short story collections for any reason, you should give this one a try because I think it delivers on every area I see people most often complain about with collections.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story collections can be hit or miss with many stories in most collections being a miss. That is not the case with Elaine Hsieh Chou’s assortment of stories titled, Where Are You Really From. Chou has curated an entertaining collection of stories rooted in reality, but with just a touch of weirdness to keep them interesting.

Where Are You Really From contains six short stories and one novella, with the novella being the bad apple of the bunch. From a coming of age story where an ugly duckling compares herself to her beautiful cousin while working in their family’s dumpling shop in Tai Pei, to a world not quite unlike our current state of affairs where immigration is under fire and mail order brides gain access to America through a system that reclassifies them as imported goods, this collection of stories is thought-provoking and intriguing. We also get to peek into an AI brothel, experience what it might be like to live with your doppelgänger, and play with “dolls,” in which a mother uses her daughter’s dolls as a thinly veiled disguise to tell the story of her own immigrant experience.

Chou is a clever writer with a knack for creative storytelling. Each of her stories has a distinct voice and feel, making each of these tales feel like a mini novel in its own right. With a talent for exposing the bizarre and subversive, Chou is one to watch.

[abbie ◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜]

loved extra: you put a rabbit on me
also loved but normal amount: the dollhouse, happy endings
enjoyed: carrot legs, mail order love
eh, fine: casualties of art
loved least: featured background

overall i very much enjoyed reading this!!! i loved her writing and now i want to read disorientation. the stories were all at least a little weird if not very weird which was a fun vibe and kept me immersed and i really just want soooo much more of you put a rabbit on me i wish that one had been the novella :'(

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Copy provided by publisher]

READ IF YOU LIKE...
• Layers of meaning and interpretation
• Unpacking definitive life moments
• Approaching Asian identity in varied ways

I THOUGHT IT WAS...
Just so freaking good. Mail order brides circumventing immigration bans. A service for pregnant foreign women to have their children in the U.S., reimagined as a dollhouse. Confronting the stories we tell about ourselves at a writer's retreat.

Those are just some of the fascinating premises that await you in this fantastic story collection. Every single one contains a beautifully loaded tension, complex and complicated characters. Chou weaves multiple layers of themes in each story, sometimes subtly and other times deliberately but all in a way that feels perfectly calibrated and purposeful.

And, perhaps my favorite thing of all, all the stories fit the theme of collection. Each in their own way, these stories explores the multi-faceted lives and formative moments behind Asian faces. They strip away assumed characterizations even when the characters may lean into those assumptions.

[jacq[ueline] · Rating 4 out of 5]

a wonderfully tremendous follow up to disorientation (which i admittedly had my gripes with)... lots more to muse on but i cant wait to see what elaine hsieh chou does next.

also man david needs to be taken out back and shot

[Allison]

I read the first two stories and while they both had really interesting premises, I ultimately felt pretty underwhelmed. Unfortunate, since I was looking forward to this one. Will maybe revisit another time.

[Michele Knopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

The short stories were interesting! I loved the doll house. Some I didn't quite get. Overall very good writing style.

[livres d’or ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

I really liked the Mail Order Love and The Dollhouse stories.

[Ruthie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black Mirror, but make it Asian. this is my new favorite book. i thought Disorientation hit hard, but man, this book far exceeded all of my expectations. Elaine Hsieh Chou has done it again.