How Do I Begin? signifies a turning point for the Hmong community, a group of people who have persevered through war, persecution, and exile. Transcending all boundaries, it poignantly speaks of survival instead of defeat.
"Seventeen Hmong come-of-age writers meet you head-on with their hearts on fire, their eyes electric, their voices thundering: bullet-riddled histories, miraculous border breakouts, adopted fractured citizenships, landscapes in spirit flight, language in between languages, and impossible healings of a community, and perhaps one of the finest collections of creative writing in decades. Every piece is tender yet raw-powerful: that is, it is human-real. You are in the house with 'fried palm sugar' and 'blood pudding,' in that thing we all want to be in, a people's life, without lies or hyperbole." - Juan Felipe Herrera, Tomas Rivera Endowed Chair, University of California, Riverside
"Seventeen Hmong come-of-age writers meet you head-on with their hearts on fire, their eyes electric, their voices thundering: bullet-riddled histories, miraculous border breakouts, adopted fractured citizenships, landscapes in spirit flight, language in between languages, and impossible healings of a community, and perhaps one of the finest collections of creative writing in decades. Every piece is tender yet raw-powerful: that is, it is human-real. You are in the house with 'fried palm sugar' and 'blood pudding,' in that thing we all want to be in, a people's life, without lies or hyperbole." - Juan Felipe Herrera, Tomas Rivera Endowed Chair, University of California, Riverside