false 4370 7 A great memoirist can burnish even an ordinary childhood into something bright--see, for instance, Annie Dillard's <I>An American Childhood</I>. So what about a really good writer with access to a dramatic and little-documented story? This is the case with <I>Catfish and Mandala</I>, Vietnamese American Andrew X. Pham's captivating first book, which delves fearlessly into questions of home, family, and identity. The son of Vietnamese parents who suffered terribly during the Vietnam War and brought their family to America when he was 10, Pham, on the cusp of his 30s, defied his parents' conservative hopes for him and his engineering career by becoming a poorly paid freelance writer. After the suicide of his sister, he set off on an even riskier path to travel some of the world on his bicycle. In the grueling, enlightening year that followed, he pedaled through Mexico, the American West Coast, Japan, and finally his far-off first land, Vietnam.<p> The story, with some of a mandala's repeated symbolic motifs, works on several levels at once. It is an exploration into the meaning of home, a descriptive travelogue, and an intimate look at the Vietnamese immigrant experience. There are beautifully illuminated flashbacks to the experience of fleeing Vietnam and to an earlier, more innocent childhood. While Pham's stern father, a survivor of Vietcong death camps, regrets that Pham has not been a respectful Vietnamese son, he also reveals that he wishes he himself had been more "American" for his kids, that he had "taken [them] camping." <I>Catfish and Mandala</I> is a book of double-edged truths, and it would make a fascinating study even in less able hands. In those of the adventurous, unsentimental Pham, it is an irresistible story. <I>--Maria Dolan</I> 8039 1999 Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam total:775|5:171|4:356|3:187|2:55|1:6| 775 2956 1013 165 2 1 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Dec 11 11:21:06 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 14:46:34 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 30 00:09:14 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 00:22:43 -0700 2009
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 ju...more...]]> 1 0 false false Mon Apr 13 08:32:44 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 08:42:28 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Dec 30 07:29:27 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 05 07:51:14 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false true Mon Mar 30 22:53:30 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 12 11:20:24 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 22:53:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Dec 31 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 19:14:24 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 31 05:50:25 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jun 10 14:13:25 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 14:22:38 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue May 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 10 17:53:30 -0700 2009 Tue May 26 07:42:42 -0700 2009
Person...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Sep 27 15:35:15 -0700 2008 Sun Jan 25 06:46:17 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 10 11:21:30 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 10 11:53:37 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Dec 10 12:45:20 -0800 2007 Tue Oct 13 11:20:52 -0700 2009
Andrew ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Apr 08 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Dec 04 11:42:34 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 04 11:42:34 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 13 16:45:09 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 01 11:15:16 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Aug 26 18:07:52 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 18:18:24 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Dec 19 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 21 12:31:18 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 21 12:34:59 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 08 15:10:35 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 08 15:12:38 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Sun Jun 10 11:29:22 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 10 11:47:55 -0700 2007
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Short version: an excellent account of the author's exploration of what it means to be both Vietnamese and American. Pham's quest to find himself reveals enormous insight into both Vietnamese and American culture; it helps that he is an excelle...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Apr 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 09 18:36:46 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 26 21:47:17 -0700 2008
I imm...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Nov 19 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Oct 21 11:56:26 -0700 2008 Fri Nov 21 08:13:25 -0800 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=4370