preface
This weekend, the hot day does not want to go out is very suitable for reading at home, to recommend to everyone the book I read this week, the title of the book how to american.
To tell the truth, friends told me that jimmy is a well-known American comedian and talk show host, I did not intend to read this book at the time, maybe I usually do not pay much attention to talk shows, plus this book belongs to small autobiographical books, the prediction is that chicken soup text is not very want to see, but then I checked the author Jimmy o. Yang on the Internet, only to find that he played the role of jian-yang in the American drama "Silicon Valley", no wonder it looks quite familiar, Every time I watch jian-yang and eric's opponent play, I have to laugh to death.
Fortunately, I still read the whole book, and also listened to the audiobook, laughing while listening, jimmy still has a black accent when speaking English, the story is quite fascinating, in short, people are very humorous, this book is really an unexpected surprise. The biggest feeling is two words: true incense, so I want Amway to everyone.
The main text begins, and the main content of this article is:
Introduction to this book
Why recommend?
What's remarkable about this book
Practical English expression
The full text is about 2000 words and is expected to read for 4 minutes. Hope you all reap the rewards!
01 Book Introduction
Jimmy o.yang's Chinese name is Ouyang Quan, born in Hong Kong, but his parents are from Shanghai, when he was 13 years old, the family immigrated to Los Angeles, the United States, the first arrival due to huge cultural differences, and unfamiliar environment, let him fall into the identity crisis several times.
In order to better integrate into the living environment, he tried to watch TV shows to learn English, and after two months of study, he found that the channel was actually a Spanish TV station (telemundo). After graduating from college in order to support his pursuit of the dream of a comedian, he did sales in a second-hand car dealership, went to the strip club to do DJ, and later fell in love with a striper at first sight, and was heavily valued by gangsters in his dj career, living in the same room with homosexuals, being an Uber driver, constantly being rejected in the process of auditioning as a theater actor, experiencing the confusion, pain, regret, and hard work of life, and finally living into what he wanted, a good Hollywood struggle history.
02Why recommend this book
There are three main points:
The language is very simple and easy to read
The style of writing is humorous and funny, basically based on his pain, ugliness, and embarrassment, and the proper history of hard work is easy to resonate with readers.
There are many remarkable English expressions in the book that are worth learning.
03 What makes this book remarkable
1. Find yourself
Chinese traditional texts especially emphasize obedience and blood relations (family concepts), do the younger generation to respect the elders, challenge or question the authority is mostly not allowed, in the traditional family, the father is very picky and severe, even the rice is not steamed to be scolded, he also has to listen to endure, listen to the parents' arrangements, transfer schools, read, learn economics, and then engage in economic-related work. He is also often confused about what to do, whether to bravely pursue his dreams or obey his parents' arrangements and live in place.
Later, he finally jumped out of the "circle" that he had always wanted to escape, but the road was bumpy, and he was impressed that whenever he felt that he was about to be cornered, he always recalled the words of his father (pursing your dream is for losers. Doing what you love is how become homeless.), will wonder if what the father said is correct, and will fall into the mood of regret and self-blame, constantly self-denial, but fortunately insist on going down, all the way to get the explosive American drama - Silicon Valley role.
I really like a quote from this book: money can't buy happiness. do what you love
P.S.: Jimmy's agent called HBO to talk about whether he could give Jimmy a series-regular, otherwise he would have to shoot the American drama "Philadelphia Forever Sunny" (this drama is also very funny, interested friends can find out to see), this paragraph is his inner activity waiting for the agent's phone call results, it is worth tasting!
2. Relationship with parents
The description of the mother in the book is still relatively small, only know that the career-oriented mother works in the fashion brand store, and the father's character portrayal is much more profound, is a clitic, picky, he loves to comment on various things, but also likes to complain about the food in the restaurant is not good, so Jimmy said when describing his father: he's like a walking yelpreview. It's a walking public comment. Supplement: Yelp is an American software similar to Dianping.
Later, Jimmy O.Yang finally became a little famous in the stand-up comedy industry, inviting his parents to watch the scene, and his father's evaluation was "not funny at all, I can't understand it." Later, at a live event, his father also commented the same, feeling that no matter how hard Jimmy tried and tossed, his father felt that he was a delusional, such a father-son relationship, until Jimmy O.yang became the resident actor of the American drama Silicon Valley, and gradually improved after having a relatively stable income.
In the words of Jimmy O. Yang:
all the years of disappointments from my parents seemed to have vanished after this kevin bacon selfie. to see them happy was a bigger achievement than any accolade i could get from kevin bacon.
04 English expressions worth learning in the book
①they were the vips and i was the star that night. i had a killer set. everyone in the audience was laughing head over heels.
The killer set here means "killer skill", and it means that someone uses the killer skill, and we often carry out the big guns.
There's another place in the same book: all the comedians were extra motivated that night and we put on a killer show.
②a: “i was out of action for a year. now i’m trying to get back on the grind.”
jimmy: i naively asked, “why were you out for a year?” “i lost my big toe.”
The out of action here indicates unemployment
③i was head over heels for this girl.
Head over heels means overwhelmed
The first one appears everyone in the audince was laughing head over heels. In this context, it means smiling forward and backward
④that was the highlight of my day.
The "highlight" moment of life
The black bang boss wants to start his own business and do the club, invites Jimmy to work with him, Jimmy does not plan to go, he describes the big guy like this
⑤ shooter might have been a hard-nosed criminal, but he treated me like his son.
The hard-nosed here means unsympathetic, unyielding, a little colloquial, which can be understood as this man is not a good stubble.
(6) Jimmy's comments to his father are: he's like a walking yelpreview
Supplement - How should well-known domestic apps be represented in English?
Comments: china's yelp-like review platform
微博：china's twitter-like platform
豆瓣：imdb-like review platform douban
Well, the above is today's sharing, you have any favorite books are also welcome to share, the next time to see Triva's autobiographyborn a crime born a crime is born, after reading and then share ~ we will see you in the next issue ~