Andrew X. Pham

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Washington

A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam

A Vietnamese Bicycle Days by a stunning new voice in American letters.Andrew X. Pham dreamed of becoming a writer. Born in Vietnam and raised in California, he held technical jobs at United Airlines-and always carried a letter of resignation in his briefcase. His father had been a POW of the Vietcong; his family came to America as "boat people." His sister committed suicide, prompting Andrew to quit his job. He sold all of his possessions and embarked on a year-long bicycle journey that took him through the Mexican desert, where he was treated as a bueno hermano, a "good brother"; around a thousand-mile loop from Narita to Kyoto in Japan; and, after five months and 2,357 miles, to Saigon, where he finds "nothing familiar in the bombed-out darkness." In Mexico he's treated kindly as a Vietnamito, though he shouts, "I'm American, Vietnamese American!" In Vietnam, he's taken for Japanese or Korean by his countrymen, except, of course, by his relatives, who doubt that as a Vietnamese he has the stamina to complete his journey ("Only Westerners can do it"); and in the United States he's considered anything but American. A vibrant, picaresque memoir written with narrative flair and a wonderful, eye-opening sense of adventure, Catfish and Mandala is an unforgettable search for cultural identity.

Catfish and Mandala

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Winner of the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize
ANew York Times Notable Book of the Year
Winner of the Whiting Writers' Award
ASeattle Post-Intelligencer Best Book of the Year

Catfish and Mandala is the story of an American odyssey--a solo bicycle voyage around the Pacific Rim to Vietnam--made by a young Vietnamese-American man in pursuit of both his adopted homeland and his forsaken fatherland. Intertwined with an often humorous travelogue spanning a year of discovery is a memoir of war, escape, and ultimately, family secrets.

Andrew X. Pham was born in Vietnam and raised in California. His father had been a POW of the Vietcong; his family came to America as "boat people." Following the suicide of his sister, Pham quit his job, sold all of his possessions, and embarked on a year-long bicycle journey that took him through the Mexican desert; on a thousand-mile loop from Narita in South Korea to Kyoto in Japan; and, after five months and 2,357 miles, to Saigon, where he finds "nothing familiar in the bombed-out darkness." In Vietnam, he's taken for Japanese or Korean by his countrymen, except, of course, by his relatives, who doubt that as a Vietnamese he has the stamina to complete his journey ("Only Westerners can do it"); and in the United States he's considered anything but American. A vibrant, picaresque memoir written with narrative flair and an eye-opening sense of adventure,Catfish and Mandala is an unforgettable search for cultural identity.

Category - Non Fiction / Travel

Format - Hardcover

Condition - Excellent

Listed - A month ago

Ships From - Washington

Est. Publication Date - Sep 1999

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Category - Non Fiction / Travel

Format - Hardcover

Condition - Excellent

Listed - A month ago

Ships From - Washington

Est. Publication Date - Sep 1999

Additional Information

Publisher Description

Tags

Catfish and Mandala

By:

$4.00

Condition

Format

Meet the seller

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Catfish and Mandala

By: Andrew X. Pham

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