Stay True by Hua Hsu
Stay True is a memoir of Hua Hsu’s college years, and as I was reading it, I was struck by the fact that I haven’t really seen many books that deal with the lives of people who were in college. Maybe it’s because publishers think they will have a limited audience, since only four in ten Americans has a college degree.
Hsu’s memoir captures a certain college experience, specifically of University of California Berkeley in the 1990s, but also a more universal search for identity, that mix of striving for sophistication while simultaneously trying to appear nonchalant. Hsu is surprised to find that he’s become friends with Ken, a fellow Asian American with whom he nevertheless seems to have little in common. The friendship between him and Ken is a familiar mix of conversations about heavy political and sociological theories picked up from classes, explorations of pop culture, and ways to amuse and express themselves as they hang out together. Then, suddenly, Hsu is left trying to make sense of the world on his own when Ken becomes the victim of a random murder.
I was drawn to this book because I have Asian Americans in my family, and also because I had to deal with the death of a friend when I was in college. We had grown up together, and she was killed in a car accident just two weeks after her wedding. That first experience of the death of someone your own age changes you and sends you questioning so many things you thought you knew about the world.
Hsu is now a professor of English at Vassar, and this memoir is a combination of philosophical explorations combined with specific memories of the pop culture of milieu. I think it would especially appeal to people who went to college during the nineties and remember the time when handmade ‘zines predated blogs, when people created a mixtape for every trip and every relationship, when reporters would descend on campus to write up the curious fact of someone teaching a class on rap music at the university, and when e-mail opened whole new worlds of possibility for connecting.
I found in this memoir not so much a narrative as a series of reflections. Hsu has a way with words, and as I look over my copy, I see all kinds of aphorisms and turns of phrase that I’ve highlighted. And after reading it I find that I have not so much a sense of catharsis but more of meditation and perhaps a little more willingness to look back on my own college days.
I received a pre-pub copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you @doubleday for the gifted galley. STAY TRUE, as the author put it, is a story about being a good friend. This quiet memoir recounting the days of early childhood and learning to love music through his parents, then finding his own identity in the days of grunge and ska, moving to the Bay Area to study an as of yet to determine career and finally meeting ken; a guy who he would normally never associate with (his music choice, his wardrobe and his entire life seemed the complete opposite of Hua Hsu) and yet, this unlikely friendship leads to a deeper understanding of music, life, relationships and allowing others to see you for who you are.

What really resonated with me with this story was the music. Having grown up in the pre-internet days and befriending anyone who’s music taste matched your own, had the same counter-culture ideas and preferred MTV over the sappy VH1 days, it made me miss those days where the possibilities were endless and friendships required deep connections, in person hang outs and getting lost at night driving aimlessly through the city.

For anyone who can relate to loving and losing a friend, feeling lost and aimless, insecure and trying to find your place in the world.

This is a gripping memoir that covers Hsa's journey of self discovery during the formative years of college and graduate school. While much of this journey revolves around the senseless murder of a close friend, just as much is tied to his developing sense of his own cultural narrative.

Initially I struggled to get into the story, given both the slow pace of the narrator and the large amount of subjects being touched upon; yet I am so glad I continued to read. Once Hsa got to college I found myself getting pulled into his journey. Being of a somewhat similar age I discovered I resonated deeply with many of his internal monologues.

This turned out to be a beautiful journey Hsa shared with us, and one I strongly recommend to anyone who has ever questioned their own sense of self and place in the world. Very thought provoking in all the right ways!

I would like to thank both NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the opportunity to read Hua Hsa's "Stay True" in exchange for an honest review.

Well-written and insightful memoir about the coming of age experiences of a young Taiwanese boy who becomes a New Yorker staff writer. Clear writing, heartfelt, and full of detailed experiences.

This was a moving story about coming of age and grief. It meanders through many different subjects with a focus on friendship and culture. I enjoyed the reserved pace of it, and found the narrative voice inviting. Being around the age that the author was when the majority of this story takes place, I could really put myself in those youthful eyes and complex fleeting feelings.

I felt that at times the writer had too much they were trying to include, but it did feel like it fit the style and voice of this book. I wouldn't recommend this to everyone, but I can think of a few quietly reflective people I think would enjoy and take something from this work.

Thanks to Netgalley for sharing this book with me. Written by a New Yorker staff writer, Hua Hsu, it recounts his time at Berkeley as the son of Taiwanese immigrants. He sees himself as an odd duck, someone who buys all his clothes at thrift stores and liked indie rock when nobody else did. Despite their differences, he becomes friends with another student, Ken, a descendant of Japanese-Americans. Ken listens to the "right music" and wears the "right clothes," but the two young men manage to form a close friendship. Then, horrifically, Ken is killed. The circumstances of his death haunted me after reading about them, imagining the terror he must have felt. And such a tragedy. Hua Hsu's grief is palpable. It's only while he's attending Harvard graduate school that he begins to deal with his pain and acknowledge there is no getting over Ken's death--only learning to live with it. This is a moving, well-written story.

This is the first ARC I've read that I intend to buy; in fact, I don't know how I'll have the patience to wait the six weeks until it's released. There were so many truths, beautifully articulated, that I wanted to underline. This is a story of friendship, grief, nostalgia, music, interrogations of "coolness," college life, and so much more. I have a feeling you can pick up this book every few years and get something different from it--find a new passage that resonates.

Five stars. My favorite book of the year thus far.

Memoir by a New Yorker staff writer that’s very evocative of college life at Berkeley. It captures the quirks, good and bad, of that area of the Bay in the 90s. The author is the son of Taiwanese immigrants whose parents remain rooted in Taiwan. He’s befriended by Ken, a fellow student from a Japanese American family long established in the US. They are seeming opposites who end up becoming close. This is a finely observed account of friendship, college life, coming of age, and the Asian American community. There are wonderful details such as the number of songs it takes to drive for 24/7 donuts, the attitudes of different generations and groups, college life, and more. Music runs through the entire book like a soundtrack to what becomes a sad reflection on loss.
Thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday for the eARC

I loved this memoir. The book chronicles the college years of a Taiwanese student, his awkwardness, his friends, his relationships with women and his academic adventures. Something tragic happens to the protagonist and we get to see how he struggles to make sense of this event. I would recommend this to anyone who like memoirs or coming of age stories.

Thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday for the ebook. When the author, a New Yorker staff writer, was entering Berkeley, he was the son of Taiwanese immigrants who bought all his odd clothes at thrift stores, created his own ‘zines and liked indie rock bands, until they became popular. He somehow becomes great friends with Ken, whose Japanese American family has been in the US for generations. Ken listens to popular music, dresses like a typical frat boy, which he is. The two find common ground and become very close, until Ken is killed in a senseless and extreme violent way. His death haunts the author through the rest of his time at Berkeley. At graduate school in Harvard, the author finally finds a way to come to terms with this loss. A vivid story about a time and place and a sweet friendship.

While autobiographies are one of my favorite genres to read, I found this slow moving and it just never caught my interest. Maybe I'm not intellectual enough for it.? In any case, many thanks for the opportunity to read this one.

This memoir was such a beautiful testament to the power of friendship and how key they are to identity formation and exploration. It was so descriptive, insightful and beautiful and captured how important the most fleeting relationships can be and how much meaning can be gleaned from friendships with even the most tragic endings.

I really loved this memoir by New Yorker writer Hua Hsa. It was so intimate and well-written. Being the same age, I connected with all the historical and cultural references. Well done.