Peter Wynn Thompson Wynn Thompson من عند نيويورك من عند نيويورك

A very funny account from a girls perspective of her family's annual camping trips. A quick read that makes you laugh. The parents and the girl are likable without being too good to be true.

This book was left to me by a friend who was passing through Singapore in early 2008. I started the book about that time but only just completed it. Not that it was unreadable or anything like that. In fact, I enjoyed it. (Another friend who visited me finished the book in a day.) It's just that the story never developed a tempo/pace that propelled me forward. It's a book about identity and history, about self, about family and all the things we don't say but wish was understood. The book is also a travelogue of a Viet-American's journey and exploration of Vietnam, of memory versus reality. In some ways, it's the typical Asian American, who-am-I, what-am-I-looking-for, where-do-i-belong book. (Is it me or do Asian Americans go on this search for "self" a lot?) It's an easy read, at times fun and, at others, bland. I found the experiences about a Viet-Kieu traveling in Vietnam and the animosity he encounters more interesting than the soul-searching. Not to discount these personal, family moments. They just didn't interest me as much. Experienced and written about 10 years ago, I wonder how and if attitudes towards Viet-Kieu's have changed since?