You’re going to hear a lot about this book in 2013. This is the Gabrielle Hamilton of the new year, the Bourdain of the tween years we’re entering. For those of you not in the know, Eddie Huang, born in the US of Tawainese parents, created the legendary Baohaus in New York, blogs at Fresh Off the Boat about b-ball, music, and everything else, stars in a video series on Vice magazine’s site, and now is about to launch his very own memoir next month.

Huang does not glamorize his beginnings. His parents seem alternately crazy and clever, constantly harping on him to do better with some smacks around the ears. Growing up in Orlando, he falls in love with hip hop and works in his dad’s restaurant. He riffs on Southern food, old school hip hop and what’s its like to be an Asian American in America today. After law school and stints selling sneakers, he goes back to his original love–food. Opening Baohaus in the Lower East Side brings together all of the things he’s learned and written about in the memoir.

His brash style might offend some, but this memoir reads so well! I love his oppositional views. They make sense to me. Read his blog too–it’s often brilliant.