Hey Yang, Where's My Thousand Bucks?: And Other True Stories of Staggering Depth

by Andrew Yang

From former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, a candid and humorous blueprint for finding optimism in troubling times


IN THIS FRANK, OFTEN HILARIOUS COLLECTION OF TRUE STORIES, political trailblazer Andrew Yang examines America’s breakdown through the lens of his unexpected journey from entrepreneur to presidential candidate. Part political memoir, part comedy, and part interior monologue, Hey Yang, Where’s My Thousand Bucks? captures the man’s unique ability to make complex ideas accessible and entertaining.


“In a world of bitter division and endless outrage,” says Yang, “this book is my attempt to break through the noise—with humor, honesty, and heart . . . Think of it as an insider’s guide to smiling during crazy times.”


For anyone frustrated with traditional political narratives, curious about the human behind the headlines, or simply looking for a smart, laugh-out-loud exploration of trying to improve life in America, this book promises to enlighten, entertain, and inspire. It’s more than a memoir—it’s a blueprint for generating optimism in an extremely challenging era.

Genres: Memoir

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 3, 2026

Reviews

[Pat Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very easy, beach read with nothing crazy in terms of substance, but just fun little anecdotes and stories from a guy I was planning to vote for in 2020 before he dropped out prior to the Massachusetts primary. I’ve been basically committed to this man since I first read “The War On Normal People” in which Yang was speaking to the mainstream audience about AI’s effects on jobs and what we should do about it long before we’d heard of ChatGPT. Would highly recommend that book if you haven’t read it. This book is just me showing my loyalty.

I did truly feel the joy from Andrew Yang throughout the book and found the little anecdotes pretty fun, as I hadn’t heard of his party organizing days (precursor to his current offline parties), meeting Steve Nash at a random court, as well as his meeting of his wife and first encounter with SBF.

There’s some politics interspersed as well, but I can see how if you’re not overly interested in his life how this book wouldn’t be as appealing. For me, however, this worked.

[Angela Rho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yang Gang Forever ❤️

[Daniel Sanches · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are politician books that are bad because they were ghost written. There are others that are so bad that you wish they were ghost written, which unfortunately is the case on this one.

I have great appreciation for Yang’s trajectory and ideas, making this read even more disappointing.

I had a hard time understanding what could possibly justify this book. It feels like an incoherent mixed bag of anecdotes and thoughts, without proper curation or edition. In a benevolent interpretation, Yang received a gigantic writing fee offer and is too busy with his endeavors to properly care for this book. In a more cynical one, he chose to spill his frustration and seek social redemption and recognition through a sequence of humble-not-so-humble brags.

I finished the book with a sour aftertaste, as one has when disappointed after meeting famous people you admire.

[George Hamblen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great summary of Andrew’s journey. He did change the narrative as a newcomer. Lots of good stories and predictions here.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Yang's previous two political books, which covered his run for president and outlines his platform advocating for UBI, and they were both quite good. This one, however, is a mess. It mostly covers the past few years since the previous book, but starts with his childhood and includes material from his presidential run as well.

I was hoping to get more insight into his decision to split from the Democratic party, but he sort of glosses over the reasons in a vague paragraph or two, and then proceeds to lambast Biden and Harris for many pages. Which would be fine, he's not obligated to agree with them, but his criticism had almost nothing to do with policy or platform or actions, and essentially boiled down to "Biden old, Harris woman." He excoriated her for not kowtowing to Joe Rogan, as if that dangerous moron is a legitimate positive force for democracy. It's not even clear that he necessarily views trump's win as a bad thing, he mostly treats it as an inevitable outcome of not listening enough to him.

The book is peppered with inane anecdotes, bad jokes, false modesty, and lots of name dropping. I don't recall his previous books feeling so disorganized or him coming across so smug. In the final chapter, he drops all pretense and it's just an advertisement for his new mobile phone service!

I had found him an interesting presidential candidate despite his complete lack of experience or qualifications, because he raised issues that no one else was talking about, and proposed solutions that no one else was considering. All positive contributions to the process. But since then, he ran a terrible campaign for mayor, which gets only a couple of sentences in the book, he seems to want to put the fiasco behind him and rather than learn from the experience, pretend it didn't happen and just double down on everything that failed.

He seems to be a nice and smart guy who genuinely wants to make things better, but in this book he doesn't try to convince anyone that his way is viable or preferable to the party he abandoned, assuming that anyone reading it is likely already on board. But preaching to the choir is never the best way to grow a movement, and if he wants to have the impact that he desires, he's going to have to do a lot better than this mediocre slapped together schlock.

[Maxwell Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super quick book that is basically a 5 years recap of his life recently, I enjoyed the insight, gratitude and goals, his predictions of AI chomping the job market, how the K-shaped economy is here to stay, people will fall in love wi the Scarlet Johansson in HER, and there will be amazing medical and scientific discoverie, he may have taken 2 L’s in a row - president and major NYC, but he’s made NimbleMobile, cell-phone free parties, and giving away all of his money on X, he also was at the forefront of trying to get stimulus checks, child tax credit, and Biden out from running otra vez, my favorite political figure who is waiting for the right moment to unless his UBI and time banking and rank choice voting and primaries

[Miriam Downey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prior to reading this collection of memoir/essays, I knew very little more about Yang than his name. I kept trying to figure out what the purpose of the book was. Was he about to announce his candidacy for President in 2028? It took until nearly the end of the book for the announcement. It came on page 225. “Jokes aside, the odds of my running again are high. I like people. I love the country and those within it. And I have some ideas for how to campaign better next time.” Third party candidate.

Luckily, the book is easy reading, funny in some spots, ridiculous in others. You will have to read it yourself to see if he is the candidate for you. Probably not for me.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Akashic Books and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. In Hey Yang, Where’s My Thousand Bucks?, Andrew Yang uses his memoir title’s infamous quip as the starting point from which he recounts impactful life moments such as growing up Asian American in the 1980s and 1990s, meeting his wife Evelyn, running a presidential campaign, and finding time to write poetry during the pandemic. While these glimpses into his life are diverse, the chapter structures felt too short at times; a few sections could have been combined into longer chapters instead.

[Cody Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read every Yang book there is. As always, "Hey Yang, Where's my Thousand Bucks" is an easy-to-read journey through Andrew Yang's early life, how he was shaped, and how he went through the 2020 primaries and New York mayoral race.

It is fun, light hearted and includes more philosophical discussions surrounding his ideas, UBI, and what he got right in his predictions.

I highly recommend for any Yanggang!

[Mike Crawford · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun and goofy but there is more than a little filler here - not sure we needed to have his 2024 Dean Phillips endorsement reprinted (it was the longest chapter in the book) among this collection of lightweight, jokey musings. ChatGPT, Andrew Yang says you’ll take all our jobs but in the meantime, which is better: Noble Mobile or Mint Mobile?

[Peter T · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insider look at Andrew Yang

Yang’s latest book is a humorous autobiography - and I think a prelude to a presidential run in 2028. Check out the last chapters and conclusion to see what you think. I’ll be there for him as a Yangster from the day he launched his first campaign proposing a Freedom Dividend and many other innovative reforms.

[Lawanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yang makes more sense and has fewer ties to the establishment.