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My Mom is a Fob: Earnest Advice in Broken English from Your Asian-American Mom
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 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.
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 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.
240 pages, Paperback
First published November 11, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 18, 2015
Very funny! Great, light read that had me laughing a lot!
February 1, 2022
This book was amusing, heartfelt, and funny, especially given that I grew up in the Bay Area at the same time as the authors; while I'm not Asian, many of my neighbors and fellow students were (and I knew a lot of their moms).
I would have appreciated the book more had I read it when it came out. But the presentation has become dated: it's based on a blog from the late 2000s, and it's essentially set up as a blog: a series of short chapters, text/audio messages, AIM posts, and old photos.
I would have appreciated the book more had I read it when it came out. But the presentation has become dated: it's based on a blog from the late 2000s, and it's essentially set up as a blog: a series of short chapters, text/audio messages, AIM posts, and old photos.
June 1, 2024
It’s 204 pages of Engrish. I’m a second and third generation Chinese American from Sacramento, California and I found this book in Fremont, the hometown of the author. I didn’t enjoy it. I didn’t find the broken English and cultural mix-ups to be that funny. Sometimes I laughed.
November 11, 2017
A little off color but hilarious :)
January 1, 2018
Just found this book while cleaning up, had read 3/4 of it by the time I lost it. Some of it is funny, others repetitive.....
May 4, 2020
Hilarious and relatable, with endearing advice that went to my heart.
Did Not Finish
January 20, 2025DNF. I read about 1/3 to 1/2 of the book. Mostly it is moms who mispronounce stuff or misspell stuff, obviously trying to show their love. It was ok, I want drawn to continue
July 24, 2016
Fun book but it really helps if you're familiar with the blog. Although I needed a "lighter" book and had this for a few years now this wasn't exactly what I was looking for. Years ago the authors had a popular blog cataloging the hilarious and interesting ways Asian families have adapted to the US (or not, depending on how you interpret it). While the title might seem derogatory, the back of the book claims this project was about seeing their parents navigate a completely different culture and country.
That's about it. It's a short book that has snippets and pieces from the blog, so it isn't exactly thick reading. I think the blog/site might be defunct because I tried looking it up (I remember seeing it years ago) and found Facebook pages that are no longer updated. At least one author seems to have moved onto other ventures so it seems like it ran its course.
Some of the writings are funny, heartwarming and genuinely interesting to see how the parents negotiated with the culture, language, how things are done in the US. Some of it was universal, strange parental ideas that are probably not necessarily limited to culture. Others are somewhat specific. However, this probably worked better in the original blog/website format rather than as a book.
The best part, probably, was the introduction by Margaret Cho. She talked about being the only US citizen of her family and dealing with the painful deportation of her father when she was just a baby and how that affected her parents when he was finally allowed to return. This also reverberated in her upbringing, where Cho had to speak only English to her family and could not speak Korean. Her experiences were worth reading in light of the issues of immigration, assimilation, cross-cultural learning/adjustment, etc. Unfortunately it also only the introduction.
Anyway, I think this is probably very specifically just for the fans of the site/blog or maybe people are Asian/Asian American. At best it's definitely best as a library borrow or bargain book, but if you can't find it I wouldn't rush out to read it either.
That's about it. It's a short book that has snippets and pieces from the blog, so it isn't exactly thick reading. I think the blog/site might be defunct because I tried looking it up (I remember seeing it years ago) and found Facebook pages that are no longer updated. At least one author seems to have moved onto other ventures so it seems like it ran its course.
Some of the writings are funny, heartwarming and genuinely interesting to see how the parents negotiated with the culture, language, how things are done in the US. Some of it was universal, strange parental ideas that are probably not necessarily limited to culture. Others are somewhat specific. However, this probably worked better in the original blog/website format rather than as a book.
The best part, probably, was the introduction by Margaret Cho. She talked about being the only US citizen of her family and dealing with the painful deportation of her father when she was just a baby and how that affected her parents when he was finally allowed to return. This also reverberated in her upbringing, where Cho had to speak only English to her family and could not speak Korean. Her experiences were worth reading in light of the issues of immigration, assimilation, cross-cultural learning/adjustment, etc. Unfortunately it also only the introduction.
Anyway, I think this is probably very specifically just for the fans of the site/blog or maybe people are Asian/Asian American. At best it's definitely best as a library borrow or bargain book, but if you can't find it I wouldn't rush out to read it either.
March 24, 2011
I'm planning on writing a longer commentary on this for my ever-elusive Confessional Reader column for Hyphen (I will start it, I will), but I'll start by saying that I did very much want this book to be good. It is part of that larger phenomenon of internet-sensation turned book (think: LOL cats, Stuff on my Cat, Style Diaries, etc). All of the entries are taken from the authors' popular blog, which features snippets of emails, photos, and descriptions of Engrish conversations with first generation Asian American mothers. Unfortunately, the format doesn't translate--as with most blogs turned books--to non-electronic format. As the daughter of a slightly insane Asian American mother, I emphasized with the plight of the children, i.e. their daily forbearance of their mothers' odd fashion decisions, relentless health advice, and interrogation of their love lives. However, the book chooses to see these interactions with "Don't Our Moms Say the Darndest Things?" attitude, rather than satirically investigating or fully illuminating Asian American motherhood. But alas, this barely grazing of the surface is the fundamental conundrum of the internet phenomenon-turned-book: how could it be anything else?
January 9, 2011
'My Mom is a Fob' is a collection of posts from mymomisafob.com collated into ten themes with introductions to each by the blog's two creators. It's a pretty hilarious set. The majority are examples of questionable English and pop culture misunderstandings, but some stem from culture clashes. (Those are fun because for many of them 'I thought it was just *my* mom'. ) The introductions are well written, but a little sappy.
September 24, 2012
This is a collection of little email snippets, gchats, and conversations culled from readers' submissions to the authors' blog. If you are a 2nd-generation Asian American kid, you'll have moments of recognition and some chuckles. There is the occasional hilarious gem in here, and the foreword by Margaret Cho is interesting, but much of the rest of the material is mediocre. Mercifully, the book is pretty short.
September 25, 2011
I visited the site before reading this book and while funny on the site, it didn't transfer well.
I have a silly fobby mommy and I love her to death, but even I with a fobby mother had difficulty seeing how some things were funny in the book.
My best advice regarding this is to stick with reading her site.
I have a silly fobby mommy and I love her to death, but even I with a fobby mother had difficulty seeing how some things were funny in the book.
My best advice regarding this is to stick with reading her site.
August 24, 2012
This quick read features posts from the editors' website mymomisafob.com which highlight the quirky things first generation Asian-American moms do and say to the bemusement of their offspring. Some of the posts made me laugh out loud, and my mom thoroughly enjoyed it as well.
Now, where are the books written by Japanese-speaking girls and boys about their crazy foreign moms?
Now, where are the books written by Japanese-speaking girls and boys about their crazy foreign moms?
July 9, 2012
My mom has been in the US since '66, but she IS a FOB (fresh off the boat) She eats her spaghetti with chopsticks, loves her "Morgan Freeman" grill and during my adolescent years warned me regularly of the dangers of drugs: "E-bon-ah! Dooon't do the drugs, ok? Then you get the AIDS!"
Fun book, but not enough material to fill a book.
Fun book, but not enough material to fill a book.
November 1, 2013
I picked this out of the humor section at the library, mostly because when my parents visit I need things I can read in small chunks and this seemed perfect. There are moments of hilarity herein, but I think the blog is probably funnier. Of course my mom is not a fob, so I'm missing a lot of context. The thing I liked best about the book was the gentle and loving way that fun was poked.
January 15, 2016
Pretty funny read. It often left me alternating between laughing out loud (sometimes literally) and just going wha? I was surprised (though perhaps I shouldn't have been) at how many of the little stories sounded...familiar, though exaggerated.
Read
July 4, 2012My sister gave my siblings and me copies of this book at our latest family reunion last month. Chortles of joy and recognition could be heard from our individual rooms and from the common room as we read this book. I recommend the book to anyone who meets the description of the title!
July 23, 2021
This is a collection of short conversations between Asian moms and their kids. It's cute and funny. The only problems I had with this book were the transitions and some of the jokes were redundant. Check this out if you are looking for something light and entertaining.
May 21, 2011
Entertaining look at Asian moms drawn from her blog. It was really like reading a blog though, so not really a cohesive narrative.
May 9, 2016
Pretty hilarious and i don't have a FOB in my immediate family. Nice look into another culture.
January 27, 2013
Funny book, geared more towards a younger crowd, but I still enjoyed reading it.
September 25, 2013
This book was hilarious but the last chapter (10) felt like a filler. I would recommend just reading chapters 1 to 9, as chapter 10 is basically a rambling mess.
March 13, 2014
Stories are so eerily familiar but not as funny as I expected.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews