The Song Poet

January 11, 2016
In this beautifully-written memoir, Yang (The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir) tells the story of her father, a poet who composed kwv txhiaj in his native Hmong. These songs, she says, taught her how the human heart operates, shielded her from poverty, and showed her windows where she had only ever seen walls. Yang pitches the story as a narrative of how a song poet came to be, from his childhood in Laos, to his flight to America as young adult, to his life there as the father of many. Surprisingly, however, she hardly provides any songs at all, or shows any interest in them after the book’s introductory pitch. There’s no mention of songs created by the child in Laos who might have first experimented with words as he played with his brother, nor by the father who might have used his songs to teach his children what it means to be an immigrant and factory worker. That aside, the story is engrossing as a straight-up narrative of this spirited man’s life. The daughter’s love for her father is described in words as gorgeous as those that (she assures us) the song poet often spoke.

Starred review from August 1, 2016

Yang (The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir) here offers another engrossing, beautifully written memoir, this time focusing on her father, Bee Yang. In Hmong tradition, a song poet recounts the history, tragedies, and joys of his people and homeland, keeping the past alive. Born sometime in 1958 ("No one looked at a calendar or wrote down the date"), Bee Yang grew up under the shadow of the Laotian civil war as well as the Vietnam War. After the Americans left Laos, the newly empowered Communists targeted the Hmong for aiding the United States. Forced to flee his village, Bee Yang took his young family through the jungle to Thailand's Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, where the author was born. The difficulties did not end when the family immigrated to the United States. Like many other Hmong relocated to Minnesota, Yang's father and mother worked extremely hard to provide their children with the chance for a good education and an easier life. Yang reads her own exquisite prose, crafting a deeply moving tribute to her father and the Hmong people, as well as to the struggles facing immigrant families. VERDICT Essential for all memoir collections. ["Yang powerfully demonstrates that much of what society doesn't hold valuable--talents that don't translate into monetary or educational success--still carry immense value": LJ 6/1/16 starred review of the Metropolitan: Holt hc.]--Beth Farrell, Cleveland State Univ. Law Lib.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.