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The Best We Could Do

(The Best We Could Do)

Thi Bui

4.37 · Rating details · 11,902 ratings · 1,982 reviews

An intimate and poignant graphic novel portraying one family’s journey from war-torn Vietnam from debut author Thi Bui.

This beautifully illustrated and emotional story is an evocative memoir about the search for a better future and a longing for the past. Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui do ...more

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Hardcover, 329 pages

Published March 7th 2017 by Harry N. Abrams

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Lists with This Book

Comics & Graphic Novels by Women

1,174 books — 1,216 voters

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Vietnamese-American Novels & Memoirs

49 books — 34 voters

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4.37 ·

Rating details

· 11,902 ratings · 1,982 reviews

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Oct 22, 2018 Zoë rated it really liked it

I read this for my Asian-American studies class, and our discussion made me enjoy this book even more! A school book I actually enjoyed? I know! I'm surprised too!
At first, I wasn't too big of a fan of the art style. However, after analyzing why Thi Bui illustrated it the way she did, I think it was perfect for the story. Truthfully, I don't know too much about the Vietnam War except for the few things I remember from 12th grade history class. This was a wonderfully intimate look at her family's ...more

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Jan 22, 2017 Mischenko rated it it was amazing

This book is featured on Throwback Thursday @ https://readrantrockandroll.com/2018/...

I picked this up from Netgalley as soon as I learned about it. I love reading graphic novels and this one piqued my interest after reading the blurb. I had already read A Different Pond with my kids and loved that one, so I had a good feeling about The Best We Could Do.

This is an extremely moving graphic novel about a family’s immigration from Vietnam and how they do the best they can to make a living in a new ...more

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Jun 16, 2017 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing

I still remember how I felt the first time I read the graphic memoir "Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant", by Roz Chast. I wanted the world to read it...
I laughed. I cried. I laughed and cried at the same time! And by the way.... I felt it should be required reading for anyone who had aging parents! Both my parents were dead - and I still got value 'as' a mother: not wanting to leave my own daughters a mess to deal with after I die.
Roz Chast's graphic memoir TRANSFORMED the word GRAPH ...more

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Apr 06, 2017 Nat rated it it was amazing

Shelves: diverse-reads, graphic-novels, nonfiction, memoir, arc

The Best We Could Do brings to life author Thi Bui’s search for a better future while longing for a simpler past. This beautifully illustrated and emotional story explores the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family.

Alternating between the present, Bui's own childhood in California, and the lives of her parents amid the chaos of the Vietnam War, Bui explores the saga of her country while trying to understand the history of her parents and gr ...more

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Jan 18, 2017 Taryn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: received-from-publisher, netgalley, graphic-novels

Empathetic, honest, and emotional. A gorgeously illustrated memoir of a woman who looks to the past to understand her parents and her complicated relationship with them. In 1978, Thi Bui's parents fled South Vietnam with three young children and one on the way. The Best We Could Do tells the story of them growing up in Vietnam, raising a family in the midst of the Vietnam War, their harrowing nighttime escape by boat, and the difficulties of starting a new life in the United States. The tale be

FAMILY is now something I have created, and not just something I was born into.

Bui reveals some instances from growing up that widened the gap between parent and child and kept her from feeling safe and secure. Once her parents' backgrounds are revealed, these stories have a different sheen to them. We see how their pasts shaped who they are and influenced what lessons they felt were important to impart. Bui's mother and father had completely different childhoods. Their backgrounds were so different that I was really interested to see what circumstances brought them together. Her mother grew up in a wealthy household in the relative safety of South Vietnam, while her father grew up in poverty in conflict-ridden North Vietnam. We get to see them grow up as young people with hopes and dreams, and then later as adults who have suffered immense heartache together.

We weren’t any of the pieces on the chessboard. We were more like ants scrambling out of the way of giants, getting just far enough from danger to resume the business of living.

The specifics of Vietnam's history with colonization and conflict are given for context, but more importantly, this book shows what it's like to live day-to-day in those conditions. War and its effects don't stop when foreign troops leave and the headlines cease. I appreciated a part where Thi tries to figure out her father’s allegiances after listening to another one of his contradictory stories because I was struggling with the same thing. It was a good reminder that things aren't always so easily simplified.

My two favorite types of graphic novels are historical fiction and memoirs with historical relevance--images add so much power to these type of narratives. The illustrations are lovingly rendered. So much of the artwork impacted me, but my favorites pages were her parents' wedding, a young Bố hiding underground, and the full spread of her father gazing up at Orion’s belt. Those pages felt like whole stories in themselves. On one page there are actual photographs that were taken when her family arrived at a refugee camp in Malaysia. The contrast between the family I'd come to care for through Thi's loving illustrations and the impersonal identification shots was striking. We see so many photos of refugees and immigrants on the news, it can be easy to forget that they all have a story.

In the introduction, Bui writes about a few of the titles she came up with before settling on The Best We Could Do. Just typing the title out makes my eyes well up with tears, so I’d say it was a perfect choice! It's the story of one family's journey from Vietnam and the obstacles they overcame, but it's also so much more. It's so relevant in a time where immigration and how it should be handled is on the forefront of so many people's minds. We see firsthand why someone might make the tough decision to leave behind everything to start a new life and the incredible sacrifices they must make to provide a better life for their families. Most everyone will be able to relate to some aspect of Bui's story: family, home, identity. What makes us who we are? What we pass on to the next generation? Why is it so unsettling when our view of our parents evolves? It only takes a couple of hours to read, but it's so powerful. When I finished reading, I immediately wanted to read it again. If you're on the fence, you can preview a few of the spreads via 'Look Inside' on Amazon, the publisher's page, or visit Thi Bui's art blog.

(See full spread & more at Abramsbooks.com)

*Vietnamese for Mom and Dad

--------------
I received this book for free from Netgalley and Abrams ComicArts. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. It will be available for purchase on March 7, 2017.

...more

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Jan 20, 2017 Sam rated it really liked it

Shelves: aty-challenge-2017, 2017-reads

A heartfelt, engaging, comprehensive illustrated memoir, The Best We Could Do really blew me away. I do not gravitate towards graphic novels as a format, but this book completely hooked me from the opening panels as Thi Bui embarks on her own journey of motherhood for the first time, and seeks to close the gap between herself and her parents by better understanding where she comes from and their own stories. She does incredible amounts of research and is able to distill years of history and emot A heartfelt, engaging, comprehensive illustrated memoir, The Best We Could Do really blew me away. I do not gravitate towards graphic novels as a format, but this book completely hooked me from the opening panels as Thi Bui embarks on her own journey of motherhood for the first time, and seeks to close the gap between herself and her parents by better understanding where she comes from and their own stories. She does incredible amounts of research and is able to distill years of history and emotion and anecdote into small illustrated panels, each one complex and powerful and detailed but also able to push the story along into the next image and idea. We embark on this journey through the Bui family history, starting with her parents' vastly different backgrounds and lives in Vietnam pre war, during the long destructive war pitting individuals and villages against each other as well as horrific losses from French and American involvement, and life as refugees in Malaysia and in the United States and how everyone truly did the best they could do to forge new lives, avoid hunger, and raise a family against difficult odds.

The renderings and text flow remarkably together: from Thi's narration and illustration, one gets the sense that they could not be separated in order for the larger Bui tale to be told for her, and so the format is necessary and revelatory. The drawings themselves are both simple and yet complicated, and have their own hurried urgency that helps establish the flow of the narrative. This is truly a memoir that meditates on what it means to belong - to people, to a place - and raises great questions about who all of us are as children of our parents, how our views of our parents as people evolve, and how roles shift once again if we perpetuate the cycle and have children of our own. Tie in its timeliness and relevance to a larger, social and political discussion of immigrants and refugees, a parallel to the horrors many from Syria, Somalia and other nations with intra and international conflict are facing today and the often strident response by those who would not wish to help or see those war torn people settled into their societies, and you have the makings of a major force in memoir today. Bui's memoir is at once intensely personal, but with huge potential for universal application and empathy. I would heartily recommend this to most readers: if you don't care for graphic novels at all, perhaps this isn't for you, but if you're like me and just don't gravitate towards that format, you may be surprised with The Best We Could Do, as it's so authentic and interesting and searing, it transcends its glorious individual parts and really might work for you on the level of a family history and a human face on the ongoing disscusion about immigration and belonging.

-received an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review thanks to Abrams. ...more

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Mar 10, 2017 David Schaafsma rated it really liked it

Shelves: gn-memoir, vietnam

I read this graphic memoir in one sitting and found it affecting as a story and lovely to look at. It's a story that is familiar, the desire to understand the past of one's parents, and in becoming a parent, finding yourself in a better place to do so. Her parents divorced, but to help her understand the past, and tell the tale, they came together to help her. She did lots of secondary research in addition to talking with her parents.

And since it is about Vietnamese parents who became refugees e ...more

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Dec 03, 2017 Thomas rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, biography-or-memoir, graphic-novel

Such an important and empathetic graphic memoir about Thi Bui's journey to understand her Vietnamese family and their immigration to the United States from South Vietnam. The Best We Could Do begins with Bui's foray into motherhood and how it reminds her of her mother's story and sacrifices. To cultivate a deeper comprehension of her family's past, she interviews her parents, travels back to Vietnam, and spends tons of time learning about the history of the war and her family's place within it. Such an important and empathetic graphic memoir about Thi Bui's journey to understand her Vietnamese family and their immigration to the United States from South Vietnam. The Best We Could Do begins with Bui's foray into motherhood and how it reminds her of her mother's story and sacrifices. To cultivate a deeper comprehension of her family's past, she interviews her parents, travels back to Vietnam, and spends tons of time learning about the history of the war and her family's place within it. These experiences help her create this moving, cinematic memoir that highlights her family's daring escape from a war-torn country, as well as their struggles to build new lives for themselves in the United States. She captures themes of displacement, intergenerational trauma, and how culture influences the ways we express or do not express our love for one another.

I appreciate The Best We Could Do so much for shedding light on an under-discussed lived experience. As a Vietnamese American who was born and raised in the United States, I learned about the Vietnam War in a sterilized, non-personal way in my history classes. Thus, I so love that Bui shows in beautiful imagery and meticulous detail the emotional, relational effects of the war. Holding this book felt like holding a work of art that someone spent hundreds and hundreds of hours creating. Bui's heartfelt compassion for her family's journey from Vietnam to the US shines in these pages, both through the amazing artwork and the research she did to put together his nuanced narrative.

Overall, I would recommend The Best We Could Do to anyone interested in history, the Vietnamese American experience, or graphic memoirs. Reading this book made me reflect on my own family - both of my parents came to the United States as adolescents - in challenging, meaningful ways. The educational curriculum in the US often erases the experiences of racism and discrimination we have experienced and continue to experience, so I appreciate Bui shedding light on those instances too. While I wish Bui had also touched on how she and her family have dealt with intergenerational trauma since coming to the US, perhaps that will serve as the foundation of her next highly-necessary book. ...more

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Apr 01, 2017 Tatiana rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017, non-fiction, graphic-novels, foreign-lands

3.5 stars

I really liked the art and I definitely learned a lot about Vietnam's history.

However it's a memoir. And, unfortunately, like with many memoirs, I often felt the author didn't dig deep enough or was reluctant to tell the whole truth (probably to, understandably, not hurt her parents). For all author's anger against her parents, she never quite articulated why she felt it. The narrative also was often unclear about certain events, especially how for all the talk about poverty, somehow he ...more

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May 27, 2018 Rincey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: poc-author, favorites

Totally cried while reading this. <3 <3

See me talk about this briefly in my May wrap up: https://youtu.be/ymb11Zcb248?t=23m51s

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Aug 18, 2018 Lisa Vegan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, graphic-comics, non-fiction, history, orphaned-and-quasi-orphaned-kids, mental-illness, readbooks-female-author-or-illust, reviewed, 1-also-at-librarything, z2018

This book is San Francisco’s One City One Book for summer 2018 and I wanted to read it during this period. It’s a fast read and I was able to read it in a couple of days.

It’s a wonderful graphic biography book and interesting history book, and a fabulous book about parents & children and relationships, and trauma.

I’m always in awe of people who can take their pain and experiences and feelings and create writing/art and here there are both. For most of the book I particularly enjoyed the tex ...more

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Dec 01, 2017 Mariah Roze rated it really liked it

This was a great autobiography graphic novel. The author talked about her parents leaving war-torn Vietnam and moving to the USA. This also shared the daughter's story of growing up an immigrant and very poor.

This is definitely worth a read!

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Aug 27, 2018 Libby rated it really liked it

Shelves: family-relationships, family-saga, memoir, non-fiction, published-2017, read-in-2018, graphic-novel

‘The Best We Could Do’ by Thi Bui is my first time to read a graphic novel. It’s a powerful illustrated memoir about a young Vietnamese woman havinng a baby, and recognizing at that moment her own essential link in her family’s story. Bui’s mother flew in from California to be with her daughter while she was in labor, and as Bui expresses so well, “but now that she’s here, she can’t bear to be in the same room.” Accompanying this caption is the picture of her mother standing out in a hallway cry ‘The Best We Could Do’ by Thi Bui is my first time to read a graphic novel. It’s a powerful illustrated memoir about a young Vietnamese woman havinng a baby, and recognizing at that moment her own essential link in her family’s story. Bui’s mother flew in from California to be with her daughter while she was in labor, and as Bui expresses so well, “but now that she’s here, she can’t bear to be in the same room.” Accompanying this caption is the picture of her mother standing out in a hallway crying, her hand over her mouth. As a nursery nurse, I often found family members in hallways overcome with emotion because their loved one was in pain and there was nothing they could do to change that.

In the pages of this book, Bui will look back over the journey that’s brought her to a New York hospital to deliver a son in November of 2005. She explores the histories of both her parents and grandparents in Vietnam. Some of her drawings evoke the sorrows of what her parents endured just to survive. Over the course of the book, I sensed this was a sorrow passed down to their children as readily as the genes they shared.

Bui’s brother Tam’s birth in a refugee camp, their harrowing journey in a boat to escape Vietnam, the contrasting lives of Bui’s parents during their childhoods, and the political conflicts of Vietnam are shared. Thi Bui calls her father Bo and her mother Ma. Bo’s story in pictures are deeply emotive. When Bo is five years old, his father throws his mother out onto the street. Can you imagine the face of a five year old whose mother is no longer available? Bui can and does.

This is not a book that can be discussed adequately with words; it’s a visual experience and has to be seen to be appreciated. The colors throughout are black and white and shades of red. Faces and figures carry volumes of expression. Bui’s journey is an immigrant’s story and the universal story of the search for identity. There is hope here, too, as Bui so wonderfully depicts, in the birth of her son, and a future without the shadows of war. Highly recommended. ...more

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Mar 18, 2018 Dianne rated it liked it

Well done graphic novel by a woman who came to the US with her family as Vietnamese refugees after the fall of Saigon. Thi Bui reconstructs her parents' paths from their childhoods to where/who they are now, and muses on how their respective pasts have shaped her own life.

Interesting and beautifully illustrated. I especially loved everything having to do with her father. Just.....for some reason, it did not resonate with me or emotionally engage me. Good, but I would have liked to have had a mor ...more

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Mar 07, 2019 My_Strange_Reading rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019-reading-challenge, graphic-novel-manga-comic, historical-fiction, young-adult, non-fiction

#mystrangereading The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui ⭐⭐⭐⭐. Autobiographical/historical/memoir of Bui's own story and the story of her family's voyage out of devastation of the Vietnam War.

🎨 The artistry stands on its own as a beautiful, gorgeous, unique story.
🎨 The story was heart wrenching, inspiring and poignant.
🎨 My only issue came from the stream-of-conscience style of story-telling which just threw me all over the place emotionally and "physically" between the stories.

Overall, this is an in ...more

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Apr 12, 2018 Ana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, 2017-releases, auto-bio-memoir, own-and-read, nonfiction, read-in-2018, graphic-novels

Reading Women Challenge 2018

5. A graphic novel or memoir

Not sure what I was expecting when I picked this one up to read each night before going to sleep. As someone who reads comics and graphic novels for academic research purposes, I thought that not much can surprise me, hence me naively thinking this will be a light read. Yet The Best We Could Do broke my heart in more ways than it mended it. And I am happy with that!

Bui’s visually stunning book is so much more than an immigrant story: her ...more

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Jul 29, 2018 Britany rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2018, memoir, graphic-novel, bookriot

This was incredible. The amount of time and work that had to go into its creation alone was fascinating. The tough conversations that took place between a daughter and her parents made me want to cringe and cry.

Thi Bui came to this country under a traumatic veil.Her family is from Vietnam and during the 60's and 70's she shows us how the country went to war with itself and the French influence on their culture. What it was like to grow up in a communist country and then forced to flee to protec ...more

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Jul 02, 2018 Sara➽ Ink Is My Sword rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: emotional, dark, favorites-2018, memoirs, serious-topics, thought-provoking, historical-fic, graphic-novels, diverse

💭Pre-reading thoughts:

This sounds like an emotional journey, involving Vietnamese history which it's something I really want to know more of.

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May 11, 2018 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it really liked it

Shelves: read2018, graphic-novels-or-comics, around-the-world, location-vietnam, hoopla

I enjoyed this graphic-memoir of Thi Bui's family - their lives in Vietnam, coming to America, and how becoming a mother has made her think differently about her parents and their decisions. Sometimes the non linear nature made it hard to follow but I usually found my way.

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Dec 29, 2017 Nelson Zagalo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: graphic_novel, literature, memoir

Passada toda uma pré-adolescência a ver filmes americanos sobre o Vietname, que mostravam os bons americanos e as suas façanhas e todo o seu altruísmo heróico contra os maus, os "vietcongues", sempre prontos a matar e a fazer explodir os indefesos e os soldados (“The Deer Hunter”, (1978), “Apocalypse Now” (1979), “Missing in Action” (1984), “Rambo” (1985), “Platoon” (1986), “Good Morning Vietnam” (1987), “Full Metal Jacket” (1987), “Casualties of War” (1989)), a que se juntaram algumas tentativa Passada toda uma pré-adolescência a ver filmes americanos sobre o Vietname, que mostravam os bons americanos e as suas façanhas e todo o seu altruísmo heróico contra os maus, os "vietcongues", sempre prontos a matar e a fazer explodir os indefesos e os soldados (“The Deer Hunter”, (1978), “Apocalypse Now” (1979), “Missing in Action” (1984), “Rambo” (1985), “Platoon” (1986), “Good Morning Vietnam” (1987), “Full Metal Jacket” (1987), “Casualties of War” (1989)), a que se juntaram algumas tentativas de mostrar outras janelas sobre o conflito, como “Gardens of Stone” (1987) ou “Born on the Fourth of July” (1989), ficaram sempre todos muito aquém, porque se basearam sempre na perspetiva exterior, nomeadamente a americana, apenas sobre o conflito e a política, deixando de fora as pessoas, aquelas que habitavam o Vietname.

[Ler com imagens e links no VI
https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.pt/...]

Talvez o filme que mais se tenha aproximado surgiu numa fase já mais tardia desta vaga, já como terceiro filme de Oliver Stone sobre o conflito, um dos poucos realizadores que esteve realmente na Guerra do Vietname, intitulado “Heaven & Earth” (1993). Ainda assim, e apesar de baseado em livros de Le Ly Hayslip, uma autora vietnamito-americana, acaba por surgir filtrado por Stone, dando conta da realidade que releva para os olhos americanos. Aliás, nesta altura os franceses quiseram também dar conta da sua posição no conflito, ou melhor, do que antecedeu o conflito, e deram-nos “Indochine” (1992), e ainda que como “Heaven & Earth” vá muito além de tudo o resto, mostrando uma realidade do Vietname até aqui desconhecida, continua a ser uma expressão francesa sobre o outro.

Não é só por tudo o que disse acima, mas é também muito por isso que este livro de banda-desenhada autobiográfico de Thi Bui, “The Best We Could Do” (2017), ganha uma enorme importância, porque é chegado o tempo de quem sofreu se expressar, de dar a conhecer ao mundo os seus sentires, explicar o que aconteceu, como e porquê, ainda que seja sempre o seu lado da história. Ainda há um par de anos Matt Huynh tinha feito uma incursão neste universo por meio de uma brilhante banda desenhada interativa, "The Boat" (2015), de que aqui dei conta. Contudo Thi Bui conseguiu chamar a atenção com este livro, e não é por acaso que Bill Gates o recomenda como um dos seus livros de 2017.

Viet Thanh Nguyen, o autor vietnamito-americano de “O Simpatizante”, o Pulitzer de 2015 que deu um dos primeiros empurrões para o que parece ser esta nova vaga de histórias sobre o Vietname, surge na capa desta banda-desenhada, dizendo sobre a mesma: "Um livro para despedaçar o seu coração e depois curá-lo". Não podia estar mais de acordo, pois se o livro tem um enorme valor histórico-social, capaz de nos ajudar a compreender os sentires de uma população que sofreu os piores males da guerra e da política, não deixa de ser uma belíssima narrativa, construída com grande virtuosismo. Se no início somos levados a desejar compreender a história daqueles personagens, e a meio conduzidos pela tentativa de compreender a problematização política, no final só o sentimento nos é dado, tudo se eleva, tudo se demarca, e o pensamento conduz-se apenas para a razão do que é ser-se humano neste nosso pequeno planeta.

E por isso, se inicialmente me pareceu algo condescendente a escolha de Gates, no final do livro tenho de dizer que "The Best We Could Do" foi uma das minhas grandes leituras de 2017.

Publicado no VI, com imagens e links:
https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.pt/... ...more

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May 07, 2018 Monica Kim: Reader in Emerald City rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018

Thi Bui’s “The Best We Could Do” made me cry thinking of my parents, and the endless sacrifices they made as immigrants raising a family in America, and everything that’s going on in our country today, It has to be one of the toughest decisions my parents had to make, leaving everything behind, and moving to an unknown, foreign country. All immigrants and child of immigrants know those “ugly” teenager phases we went through, we were so frustrated with our parents for not being able to speak Engl Thi Bui’s “The Best We Could Do” made me cry thinking of my parents, and the endless sacrifices they made as immigrants raising a family in America, and everything that’s going on in our country today, It has to be one of the toughest decisions my parents had to make, leaving everything behind, and moving to an unknown, foreign country. All immigrants and child of immigrants know those “ugly” teenager phases we went through, we were so frustrated with our parents for not being able to speak English, always working, and cramped in one small apartments. I grew up poor in rural countryside in a communal-style house, family of five living in one bedroom, shared kitchen with an outdoor “bathroom” in Korea. Both of my parents had a really rough childhood, especially my dad who’s been working since 9. We moved to America not knowing a word of English, but somehow, we made it happen and assimilate to American life. Life was rough when we first moved to America, the constant worry about making ends meet and that sense of frustration and tense lingered for a long time. I am forever grateful for my parents, and I owe my life to them. I never take anything for granted, I learned importance of hustle from them, and to always work hard & be kind to others.
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What Thi Bui has achieved, covered, and captured in this book are pretty remarkable. I’ve never read graphic novel before, so it took a chapter or two to get used to. This was a quick, yet difficult, heartbreaking read. You have to look at the pictures carefully, I think it carries more meaning than the words. In this beautifully Illustrated & emotional graphic memoir, Thi Bui documents the story of her family’s daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s, the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves in America, and history of Vietnam, war, and French colonialism. Thi Bui started digging past as a first-time mom to gain a better understanding of her family & parents, and learns about her family’s difficult past and learned to look forward & what it means to be a parent. This must have been a challenge to draw & write, but her conviction & emotions comes through with compassion and clarity. I highly recommend everyone to read this book, it’s a book worth owning! Excellent & profound content and well illustrated & written. ...more

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Jan 30, 2017 Hristina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: wishlist, reviewed, memoirs, non-fiction, from-netgalley, first-read, favorites, e-books, comics-and-graphic, books-i-recommend

The Best We Could Do features artwork so beautiful and story so intimate that I couldn't put it down. Thi Bui takes the reader along for a journey as she explores her family history and her relationships with her parents. The story is told in a relatable manner, it's poignant and it's easy to connect to (at least it was to me).
The story revolves around a Vietnamese family that escapes the war and immigrates to the US in the 70s. It depicts the struggles of being forced out of your own country, t ...more

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Nov 10, 2018 Kate rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2018, manga-comics-and-graphic-novels

4.25/5stars

the art and the story were BEAUTIFUL

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Sep 16, 2018 Negin rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: those who like memoirs and/or graphic books

Shelves: all-time-favourites, illustrated-graphic, vietnam

I loved this graphic memoir. The illustrations are gorgeous, the story grabbed me right away, and the pain of the author and her family’s past was beautifully depicted. They were refugees who moved to the U.S. after the Vietnam War, but that’s not all that the story is about. There is far more to it than that. It’s a story of a family, rather than just the Vietnam War.

This has to be one of the most emotionally-gripping books that I have read in a while.

My favorite quote:
“Proximity and closene ...more

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Mar 04, 2017 Jenna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: asian-american-writers, vietnam, memoir-and-biography, illustrated

I read this book in one sitting (breathless, emotionally turned inside-out) and you should too.

Bui's family is different from mine in many ways, but I still experienced a sense of recognition on every page, as if her family life had been stitched together from patchwork pieces of mine, or vice versa. It's Thi Bui's truth, but I think it's a lot of other people's truth, too -- I won't use the word "universal," which I mistrust, but it has a sense of scope, of historical breadth. It's an intimate ...more

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Feb 13, 2017 Julie Ehlers rated it it was amazing

Shelves: comics-and-cartoons, shelf-awareness, galleys

The Best We Could Do is a wonderful illustrated memoir that covers the author's experience as an immigrant to the U.S. from Vietnam as well as her parents' experiences of war while they were still living in Vietnam. I read this back in March 2017 and wish I had reviewed it sooner so I could be more detailed here, but I learned a lot from this book and thought it was beautiful and affecting. I read an ARC of this and some of the art was unfinished. I shouldn't even be mentioning this, but I thoug ...more

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Mar 28, 2018 Amanda NEVER MANDY rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, 2018

**I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.**

I can finally check Graphic Novel off my never-have-I-ever-read list. This was a gorgeous read. The artwork was phenomenal and it brought the story to life right before my eyes. What an amazing idea, to document your family history by using two forms of media to maximize on the personal touch. I’m racking my brain trying to think of anything that bothered me about this book and I am coming up empty-handed. I can honestly say, for th ...more

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Jun 08, 2017 Louise rated it it was amazing

Shelves: vietnam, biography, graphic-lit-and-hist

This ranks up with the graphic bio Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood which sets a high bar for this genre.

Americans to not always recognize that each immigrant has a back story. Many are survival stories like this one.

This is a quick powerful read.

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Mar 05, 2018 Suzy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: back-and-forth-in-time, graphic-illustrated, journeying, memoir, war

Thi Bui fled Vietnam in 1978 with her mother, father and 3 siblings when she was a young girl. Now an adult with a child of her own, she is worried she will pass on to her son the pain and sadness of her parents from a lifetime of war, abandonment, poverty and dislocation. This is a poignant and powerful story of one family’s immigration told beautifully through Thi’s illustrations. Having just written “beautifully”, that word does not sum up the brilliant energy that emanates from the page of t ...more

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Aug 29, 2017 Lily rated it it was amazing

Shelves: asian-authors, graphic-novels-comics, biography-memoir, east-asia, favorites, important

This was beautiful, empathetic, harrowing at times, and incredibly brave. Thi Bui, in recounting the lives of her parents and their parents throughout Vietnam's tumultuous history, presents a fresh, new voice in the realm of Vietnamese-American non-fiction.

Everyone should read this.

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Reading Women: 5) A Graphic Novel or a Graphic Memoir	30	151	Nov 08, 2018 11:48AM
Team Hooman: Spoiler Free - The Best We Could Do	5	5	Sep 19, 2018 07:42PM
Read Women: The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui	28	52	Jul 08, 2018 12:36PM
Dubuque Virtual B...: May 2018 Discussion: The Best We Could Do	2	12	Apr 26, 2018 12:54PM

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About Thi Bui

Thi Bui

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Thi Bui was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States as a child. She studied art and law and thought about becoming a civil rights lawyer, but became a public school teacher instead. Bui lives in Berkeley, California, with her son, her husband, and her mother. The Best We Could Do is her debut graphic novel.