A Man of Two Faces (English, Paperback, Viet Thanh Nguyen)

This memoir, A Man of Two Faces by Viet Thanh Nguyen, is a powerful and unconventional exploration of personal history, refugeehood, and cultural identity. With his signature wit, sharp analysis, and emotional openness, Nguyen reflects on his life as a father, a son, and an immigrant navigating the complexities of Vietnam and America.

At the age of four, Nguyen and his family were forced to flee their hometown of Ban Mê Thuột and seek refuge in the United States. Separated from his parents and brother, he first lived with another family before finally reuniting with his own in suburban San José. Despite the promise of safety, violence lurked beneath the surface of American life—most tragically, when his parents were shot while working at their grocery store, Sài Gòn Mới.

As a teenager, Nguyen confronted the paradox of his identity through war films like Apocalypse Now, struggling with the duality of being both American and Vietnamese, both the oppressor and the oppressed. The discovery of an adopted sister still living in Vietnam deepened his understanding of the sacrifices his family had made. As his parents aged, he wrestled with their lingering wounds and the challenges of their care.

Blending memoir with cultural critique, A Man of Two Faces examines the contradictions of memory and forgetting, the promises and failures of America, and the profound impact of displacement. Nguyen expands the genre, offering a deeply original and insightful narrative from one of today's most important literary voices.

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