Author Recounts Her Life Through Two Distinct and Meaningful Cultures

Living back and forth between Taiwan and the U.S. since her teenage years, Fay Chou considers herself “half a banana — yellow skinned on the outside but often think and act like a white American.” In her debut book, she offers readers an interesting comparison between Chinese culture and American culture through her unique and extraordinary experiences. To know more about her story, visit https://www.amazon.com/Memoir-Half-Banana-Fay-Chou/dp/1543749585.

“Memoir of Half a Banana” (published by Partridge Singapore) highlights how two different upbringing and two distinct cultures shaped Chou’s life. In it, readers will witness how she overcomes language barrier and cultural shock to thrive in another country, how she marries a man completely opposite of herself, and how the two bought a small restaurant when they had only $8 in the bank months earlier.

“There are no other books like mine because no one else has lived through a life like mine,” Chou emphasizes. “This early exposure to another culture, yet still maintaining the traditions of my native culture, gave me an insight into both cultures in a unique and unprecedented way.” When asked what she aims for readers to take away from the book, Chou says, “We should keep an open mind and appreciate the diversity of people around us, regardless of their origin. And, life is full of challenges, but with hard work, determination and perseverance, we can rise above any circumstance.”

“Memoir of Half a Banana”
By Fay Chou
Hardcover | 5.5 x 8.5in | 288 pages | ISBN 9781543749588
Softcover | 5.5 x 8.5in | 288 pages | ISBN 9781543749564
E-Book | 288 pages | ISBN 9781543749571
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author
Born in postwar Taiwan in 1949, Fay Chou attended a junior high school in the United States due to her father’s government job. She returned to Taiwan for high school and college education at National Taiwan University. She worked in Taiwan for a few years for Guideposts Magazine, Chinese Edition, as an English teacher, translator and senior editor, as well as teaching English at a language institute, The American English Center. After getting married in 1974, Chou went to America with her husband for his graduate studies. They bought a small Chinese restaurant in De Kalb, Illinois, and ran it for seven years. A son and a daughter later, the couple moved to Los Angeles, California, where they would take up permanent residence. Chou and her husband worked for a few years for the same wholesale company as its general manager and president, respectively, and then they started an import/wholesale company of their own. For the next 20 years, they traveled extensively between Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and the United States, further realizing the extent of cultural influence in the business world. Chou worked at her last job for Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, USA, in San Dimas, California, as a senior editor. She resigned and went back to Taiwan to take care of her parents at the end of 2014. After her father passed away, she went to live with her husband in Hong Kong where all her in-laws live. Now she devotes her time in writing.

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