recommendations for non-fiction "book-club" book on Viet Nam NOT focused on war

From: Vsg [mailto:vsg-bounces@mailman11.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Shawn McHale

Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2018 11:59 AM

Cc: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: [Vsg] recommendations for non-fiction "book-club" book on Viet Nam NOT focused on war

Dear list,

I have always liked Duong Van Mai Elliott's Sacred Willow. Yes, half of the book is about the war. But half is not: in fact, the book starts in the 18th century, and uses a family's history as a window into Vietnam's transformations. I have used this book for years in my Southeast Asian history and Vietnamese history classes. The book is extremely well-written: the author has a gift for language. Importantly, it is great for discussions. Sure, one can question if reading about an elite family is the best window into understanding Vietnam -- and Duong Van Mai Elliott comes from a tangle of prominent families -- but my suggestion is: read the book, and get hooked.

Shawn McHale

George Washington University

On Tue, Nov 27, 2018 at 1:53 PM Lisa Beebe <lbeebe@ucsc.edu> wrote:

Hi Diane,

Bich Minh Nguyen's Stealing Buddha's Dinner is a very enjoyable and accessible memoir for general readers. It is also an inexpensive paperback. The description from Amazon:

As a Vietnamese girl coming of age in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Nguyen is filled with a rapacious hunger for American identity, and in the pre-PC-era Midwest (where the Jennifers and Tiffanys reign supreme), the desire to belong transmutes into a passion for American food. More exotic- seeming than her Buddhist grandmother's traditional specialties, the campy, preservative-filled "delicacies" of mainstream America capture her imagination.

In Stealing Buddha's Dinner, the glossy branded allure of Pringles, Kit Kats, and Toll House Cookies becomes an ingenious metaphor for Nguyen's struggle to become a "real" American, a distinction that brings with it the dream of the perfect school lunch, burgers and Jell- O for dinner, and a visit from the Kool-Aid man. Vivid and viscerally powerful, this remarkable memoir about growing up in the 1980s introduces an original new literary voice and an entirely new spin on the classic assimilation story.

all best,

Lisa

On Tue, 27 Nov 2018 at 10:44, Nhu Miller <trantnhu@gmail.com> wrote:

"The Best We Could Do" an impressive graphic novel by Bui Thi

or Thi Bui. This is an easy way in for people who don't read - and

for those who do, it's a revelation.

Thi was born in 1975 and has done her homework in her search

to understand her parents, Viet Nam and America. The opening

pages may be a little strong for younger readers (about a

harrowing child birth) but the rest of the book is very enlightening.

T.T. Nhu

On Mon, Nov 26, 2018 at 10:56 PM Diane Fox <dnfox70@gmail.com> wrote:

….and ideally, but not necessarily, accessible at a public library in multiple copies (sorry…this is a US based question). The target audience is adult, serious, intelligent — but thinks of Vietnam mostly as a war.

I have been asked to come up with such a recommendation, and would be grateful for your suggestions.

Diane

Diane Fox

Independent scholar,

Santa Barbara, California

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