“The perspectives and sentiments within are his.” The scion of a family whose ancestral landholdings gave it almost feudal sway over its domain in the North, Thong was born into a traditional, clan-structured society that hung by a thread during decades of French colonial rule, interrupted by a savage World War II Japanese occupation that brought mass starvation to Southeast Asia. “I have lent his life stories my words,” the author explains. Now, he deftly recaptures the history of his father, Thong Van Pham. Pham, who in 1977 emigrated to California with his parents, won plaudits and awards for a memoir about his personal rediscovery of his heritage ( Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Journey Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam, 1999). A Vietnamese family struggles for security as three decades of conflict tear an ancient society to shreds.
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