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inkdrinkerreads7 's review for:
An endearing and insightful memoir about a Vietnamese-American’s school years: his family struggles and attempts to fit into school and society in general. Each chapter is named after a canonical piece of literature, each framed around the connections between the text’s universal themes and ideas, and Tran’s life. As an English teacher and bibliophile, I loved this organisational device. It was also a perfect tool to capture Tran’s own Bildungsroman and the ways in which literature (and punk music!) helped him to discover who he was and what he wanted from life.
Many memoirs are focused on exceptional people who have lived through exceptional circumstances but this was a great paean to the humanist ideal that everybody’s story is worth sharing. Though a refugee from Vietnam, Tran’s story is not one about survival and overcoming insurmountable obstacles, but is no less compelling, thanks to his excellent narration.
Many memoirs are focused on exceptional people who have lived through exceptional circumstances but this was a great paean to the humanist ideal that everybody’s story is worth sharing. Though a refugee from Vietnam, Tran’s story is not one about survival and overcoming insurmountable obstacles, but is no less compelling, thanks to his excellent narration.