"Ken, whose Japanese American family has been in the United States for generations, is mainstream; for Hua, a first-generation Taiwanese American who has a 'zine and haunts Bay Area record shops, Ken represents all that he defines himself in opposition to. The only thing Hua and Ken have in common is that, however they engage with it, American culture doesn't seem to have a place for either of them. But despite his first impressions, Hua and Ken become best friends, a friendship built of late-night conversations over cigarettes, long drives along the California coast, and the textbook successes and humiliations of everyday college life. And then violently, senselessly, Ken is gone, killed in a carjacking...Determined to hold on to all that was left of his best friend...Hua turned to writing"--Provided by publisher.
A mediados de los noventa, Hua Hsu, de 18 años, diseñaba fanzines y exploraba tiendas de discos, mientras que Ken, obsesionado con Dave Matthews y Abercrombie & Fitch, provenía de una familia japonesa-estadounidense de larga tradición. A pesar de sus diferencias, ambos se sentían excluidos de la cultura estadounidense. Su amistad se forjó a través de conversaciones profundas, viajes en coche y una búsqueda de identidad. Trágicamente, Ken fue asesinado tres años después. Be Yourself es más que unas memorias juveniles; es una conmovedora exploración de la angustia adolescente, la experiencia de la inmigración y la búsqueda de pertenencia.
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