Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui
Listen To The Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's A Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), By Elaine Lui. Welcome to the very best site that provide hundreds type of book collections. Right here, we will offer all books Listen To The Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's A Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), By Elaine Lui that you need. Guides from well-known writers and also authors are supplied. So, you could delight in currently to get one by one sort of publication Listen To The Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's A Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), By Elaine Lui that you will look. Well, related to the book that you desire, is this Listen To The Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's A Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), By Elaine Lui your choice?
Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui
Download Ebook Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui
“I devoured this book in one sitting...alternately cheering, laughing, cringing, and gasping in horror. Lui captures the complexity of a mother-daughter relationship that is both complicated and beautiful. Poignant with a bare honesty that may make you think (and rethink) your own relationships.” —Jenny Lawson, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened
As the 800,000+ U.S. fans of Elaine Lui’s site know, her mother, aka The Squawking Chicken, is a huge factor in Elaine’s life. She pulls no punches, especially with her only child. “Where’s my money?” she asks every time she sees Elaine. “You’ll never be Miss Hong Kong,” she informed her daughter when she was a girl. Listen to the Squawking Chicken lays bare the playbook of unusual advice, warnings, and unwavering love that has guided Elaine throughout her life. Using the nine principles that her mother used to raise her, Elaine tells us the story of the Squawking Chicken’s life—in which she walked an unusual path to parent with tough love, humor, and, through it all, a mother’s unyielding devotion to her daughter. This is a love letter to mothers everywhere.
Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui - Amazon Sales Rank: #466030 in eBooks
- Published on: 2014-04-22
- Released on: 2014-04-22
- Format: Kindle eBook
Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of the Month, April 2014: "You look like dried monkey flakes." Canadian TV personality and blog gossip gal Elaine Lui doesn't ease us into her mother's bold personality. "The Squawking Chicken," as her Hong Kong-born mother is known, is loud, opinionated, and fearless -- characteristics Lui celebrates in all their cringe-worthy glory, and for which she provides context through her mother's history. That upbringing was one of hardships and perseverance, informing a unique philosophy that she instilled in her daughter. At first (to Westerners, at least), this mother/daughter relationship may seem jarring, unbelievable. But in a book that ultimately acts as both a personal memoir and her mother's fascinating biography, Lui confidently peels back the layers to reveal that there is, in fact, a beautiful bond borne of tradition, sacrifices, pain, and, above all, love. --Robin A. Rothman
Review “Authentic, heartbreaking, and funny. Lui writes with the truest form of humor, grounded in pain, honesty, and insight, and despite everything, Lui’s love for her mother shines true. This is a book that will challenge and resonate with mothers and daughters everywhere.”—Jean Kwok, New York Times–bestselling author of Girl in Translation and Mambo in Chinatown
“Elaine Lui has written one remarkable and dangerous book. It had me laughing till I rolled off the bed, rearranging my living room furniture in a panic at three a.m. to achieve proper feng shui, and calling my mother out of pure guilt. The Squawking Chicken could eat any Tiger Mom for lunch.” —Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich Asians“Lui’s ma is a caustic, brashly charismatic, take-no-prisoners, larger-than-life figure…a lovely read about a woman whose force of personality refuses to be ignored.”—Chicago Tribune
“Bold and fresh, Elaine Lui’s writing took me on a journey filled with bittersweet verve and breathtaking grace. Forget what you think you know about life, and enter the world of the Squawking Chicken. This is a love story you won’t soon forget.” —Ami McKay, author of The Birth House and The Virgin Cure
I’m an avid reader of Elaine Lui’s blog because of her intelligent, funny and distinctive voice. So of course, her memoir was a must-read. By turns hilarious and moving, it tells the story of her charismatic mother – her difficult childhood in Hong Kong, immigration to Canada and tiger-mom style of raising her daughter Lainey to be the outspoken success she is today. Along the way we learn a lot about Mah Jong and Feng Shui (two of her mother’s obsessions), but most of all about the intense love between mother and daughter. I was spellbound from start to finish!” —Jennifer Ross, People.com
“What an incredible character is the Squawking Chicken—she’s a movie, an Amy Tan novel, and a sitcom all rolled into one. By turns deeply moving, shocking, and hilarious, this is a story of atypical parenting, cultural complexities, and one daughter’s capacity for forgiveness, compassion, and love. I didn’t want it to end.” —Lisa Gabriele, author of SECRET and TV producer
“Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. I read it compulsively, wide-eyed, and devouring: Lui’s writing is sharp, humorous, and deliciously readable, like a long, insightful letter from your best friend. Listen to the Squawking Chicken asks you to reflect on what you think about loyalty, shame, pride and love—themes that all mothers and daughters know deeply. This book made me rethink what it means to be a daughter. I loved it. I can't wait to give it to my mother.” —Sarah Seleky, author of This Cake Is for the Party
About the Author Elaine Lui is the voice behind the wildly popular and successful blog LaineyGossip.com, which gets nearly 1.5 million unique visitors monthly. She lives in Toronto with her husband and beagles. Listen to the Squawking Chicken is her first book.
Where to Download Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui
Most helpful customer reviews
23 of 30 people found the following review helpful. Uncomfortable Reading By Julia Flyte Elaine Lui is a Canadian Entertainment Journalist who writes the gossip blog "Lainey Gossip". This memoir is about her relationship with her mother, aka the "Squawking Chicken" (a nickname that she's had since she was a teenager). Lainey explains in the book's introduction that she wrote the book to honour her mother and to acknowledge how every success that she's had in her life stems from her mother's devotion to her. While I believe she means this, what comes across instead is that her mother has manipulated, controlled, criticized and dominated her life. It makes for uncomfortable reading.According to Wikipedia, "traumatic bonding" is defined as "strong emotional ties that develop between two persons where one person intermittently harasses, beats, threatens, abuses, or intimidates the other." I don't doubt that Lainey loves her mother deeply. Nor do I doubt that her mother acts in ways that she thinks are the best for Lainey. However it doesn't feel like a healthy relationship.Some examples. Throughout her life, Lainey's mother has stressed to her daughter how beauty is not a worthwhile thing to aspire to or admire in another. What counts are your abilities and how hard you work. Fine. But then why does she constantly tell her daughter how pretty SHE was and how she could have been Miss Hong Kong? Why tell your daughter that unlike her beautiful mother, she has a stocky body and thick legs? If you want to emphasise that looks don't matter, don't also boast about how much more attractive you were.Another example. The Squawking Chicken tells Lainey that it is her duty to be forever grateful to her mother for giving her the gift of life. Lainey's role in life is to come running whenever her mother needs her, to buy her gifts, to pay for her holidays (and anyone else her mother wants to take along), to ring her frequently and essentially to be at her beck and call. While I understand that different cultures have more respect for their parents - and I think that's a wonderful thing - I felt very uncomfortable about the way that her mother will ring Lainey when she has others with her to demand an expensive holiday.She almost never gives Lainey the space to make her own mistakes - and if Lainey does make a mistake, she immediately jumps in to point out that it's her fault for not listening to her mother. When Lainey started dating, if her mother didn't like the boyfriend she would run him down endlessly, criticising his hair or - even worse - making fun of her daughter in front of others. As Lainey points out, her biases against people are often inconsistent. Someone who jiggles their leg when talking is immediately written off, but burping, farting, peeing in a neighbour's garden and eating with your mouth open are all totally fine.Feng Shui plays a large part in her mother's life and again this is used to control Lainey's life. She issues Lainey with a series of dictates which she won't explain but hints darkly at terrible consequences if they are not followed to the letter. This means that she can claim the credit for any success in Lainey's life, but when things don't go well she can insist it's because Lainey didn't follow the rules closely enough. She chose the house for Lainey and her husband to buy and they obediently bought it without ever stepping foot in it, simply because her mother was so insistent! Do they like the house? Lainey doesn't say - I guess that's irrelevant.I felt bad for not liking this book more. Lui's writing shines in her blog, but somehow in the book the humor gets (mostly) lost. As Lainey writes at one point, "my happiness is a priority for my mother only if it leads to her own happiness". That doesn't feel to me like a healthy mother/daughter relationship. I'm sorry Lainey, I love your blog, but I didn't enjoy this book.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Life lessons learned the hard way By Vox Libris It isn't easy being a mother. And it isn't easy having a mother, especially if you're a daughter.Therein lies a conflict as old as time itself.For Elaine Lui, the difficulty is compounded by having a mother who, on the surface, exhibits little maternal warmth, understanding, or support. Lui's mother, aka The Squawking Chicken (a nickname so given because once Lui's mother started speaking up for herself, she never stopped), is one of those tough love parents who does not think her job description includes succor or platitudes. Rather, The Squawking Chicken wants you to learn your life lessons the hard way.She sure did.As Lui relates her life as The Squawking Chicken's daughter, she does so by framing it within her mother's life. The Squawking Chicken was raped as a teenager, received no respect from her husband during the first half of their marriage, and was forced to return to Hong Kong after a divorce, in spite of having moved to Canada and being settled there. And these are just a few of the trials she had to withstand. With each challenge overcome, The Squawking Chicken learns and remembers. So when Elaine comes along, her mother is determined that she, too, learn life lessons, beginning with this one: life is just not fair.Some of the stories here are heartbreaking, and none of them are heartwarming. But that's the point. When Lui accuses her mother of abandoning her when The Squawking Chicken goes to Hong Kong, her mother doesn't so much defend herself - she is not the sort to really care - as she sets Elaine straight. "You think you know everything," The Squawking Chicken seems to say. "You know nothing." Lui is a woman, after all, who is expected to call her mother on HER birthday, as well as her mother's. Lui didn't come into this world all by herself, you know. She was brought in by The Squawking Chicken.This is not a self-help book, nor is it full of easy platitudes about parenting. Rather, it is an examination of a mother-daughter relationship built on honesty. Unapologetic, occasionally brutal honesty. Just as Lui would not go to her mother for warm, fuzzy bon mots, neither will she parse them out in this memoir (of sorts). As a successful woman (Lui runs the Lainey Gossip website and is a co-host for a Canadian gossip show), Lui is a solid, positive example of her mother's life lessons.The message here is simple: I am your mother, not your best friend. I know what's best for you, and sometimes what's best is not what makes you feel better; it's what makes you become better.Published on cupcake's book cupboard@VivaAmaRisata
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. What to say? By Jamagan Lainey's blog is one of only two blogs I read daily. I love her wit and writing style and the way she dissects the actions and contradictions of celebrities. But unfortunately her book doesn't reach that level.Part of the problem of course is closeness. To be a good journalist you have to observe only and not get involved with your subjects. Lainey accomplishes this on the blog. She can point out the hypocrisy of Jennifer Garner advocating in court for stricter paparazzi laws for kids, while the next day taking her kids on a pap stroll to win Ben Affleck an Oscar. Lainey can call it how she sees it in these situations because she's not personally involved. She doesn't know how Ms. Garner might agonize over this duplicity, she doesn't know what unseen sacrifices the couple might make behind the scenes to protect their children.But when it comes to her mother she does know these deeper intimate details. Lainey doesn't call out her mother for divorcing her father over unfair treatment by his parents, but then turning around and demanding unquestioned loyalty and respect from Lainey. That's two-faced. This is the type of discrepancy that Lainey doesn't address head on. She doesn't really address them at all. And I understand why - it's her mother.The problem with writing about your mother is exactly that - it's your mother. For starters you probably don't have an appropriate amount of perspective and space to see your own mother clearly as a person and individual. They're still your mother who as a child you used to idolize and think could do no wrong. And even if you're an adult and can recognize now that she has faults, you still love her. And that love is going to stop you from being able to push through and expose her core (either from blindness or unwillingness).When it comes to her own mother, Lainey doesn't have that same "take no prisoners" approach she takes with her blog. I'm not sure if it's because she doesn't want to question the deeper duplicities in her mother, or if it's because she didn't want to immortalize them in words. Either way, her book is not as impressive as her site.Despite my disappointments, if you are a reader of the site and enjoy the references to the Squawking Chicken I do still think you will enjoy this book (especially if you can rent it or borrow it).
See all 89 customer reviews...
Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui
Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui PDF
Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui iBooks
Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui ePub
Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui rtf
Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui AZW
Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui Kindle
Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui
Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui
Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui
Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of), by Elaine Lui
