When Eddie Huang found out Tom Hanks had COVID, he made a split-second decision to cop a flight to Taipei. It was in the thick of the pandemic, before we had much information at all besides to mummify ourselves and cry in a corner of our bedrooms listening to James Blake if we wanted to survive. All Eddie wanted was to get in his room, order room service, and enter a 30-day dumpling coma—after which, he figured, this whole thing would be over.

Eddie didn't think twice about throwing his social life away when his life was threatened. He’d never really felt at home in the US, and he’d always told himself that he’d try Taiwan if America ever became too much—mainly because his father’s best stories had taken place there. At first, he just ate mushroom chocolates, hiked in the mountains, and wrote. But as the rest of the world stayed in lockdown, he started meeting up with other Taiwanese friends he'd made over the years. And it was nice, but it still felt like something was missing in those late-night meetups in the Eastern District.

Then he met Ji Twei Fan, a local rapper who became his best friend in Taiwan and his guide to its upside down. Whether it was taking Eddie to the dark basement of a betel nut shop or a legendary spot for sour cabbage pork hot pot, he was always with Ji Twei Fan. As their friendship deepened, he learned more about the life his dad must have lived, and he finally got the courage to ask his dad what he'd wanted to know all these years: how his life had gone sideways in Taipei.

In this funny, tender, and irreverent true story by the creator of Boogie and Fresh Off the Boat, Eddie Huang explores love, friendship, belonging, food, IBS, and family in his unforgettably singular voice.