Bend, Not Break

Ping Fu's memoir, written with MeiMei Fox, follows her from China to the United States. Born just before the Cultural Revolution, she was parted from her family at eight, looked after her younger sister once their parents were sent for re-education and worked in factories. Deported over the contents of her college thesis, she reached America at twenty-five with $80 in traveler's checks and three English phrases. She worked as a maid and a waitress while studying, earned a computer science degree, worked at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, then co-founded the 3D software company Geomagic. Weeks after publication, critics claimed some China stories were exaggerated; Fu denied falsifying them but acknowledged some errors.

Simon Sinek recommended it as inspiration for anyone who sees themselves as a victim of their circumstances.