Bich Minh Nguyen

I have to confess that when I first started reading Short Girls, I thought it was just another examination of the inter-generational struggles faced by families recently immigrated to the United States. As this is a vein that has been mined so wonderfully by Amy Tan over the years, it was not clear that this novel—which concentrates on the Vietnamese rather than the Chinese experience—would be anything special.

Fortunately, I kept reading and I am glad that I did. While Bich Nguyen’s show more book certainly does consider the joys and strains of the relationships between parents and children caught between two cultures, her real focus is the interaction between the two sisters of the title. Conditioned from birth to both resent and embrace their status as “short girls”—a continuing metaphor for their standing as people who will always be at least slightly outside the mainstream— Linny and Van face their challenge and pursue their lives in very different ways. As a consequence, they grow apart and barely speak to one another after high school. Much of the action in the novel involves the sometimes heartbreaking sequence of events that ultimately bring them back together.

I enjoyed this book, largely because I really grew to care about both of the sisters. Nguyen—who seems to have written from personal experience—has drawn very distinct and authentic portraits of two women who view the world quite disparately, but share too much in the way of history and common genes to ever break apart completely. This is a book about love and loss, fitting in and being estranged, regret and redemption. I recommend it without hesitation. show less

Bich Minh Nguyen's 2007 memoir is both sad and funny. Nguyen was 8 months old when she left Vietnam just before the fall of Saigon, along with her father, uncles, grandmother, and 2-year old sister. Resettled in Grand Rapids, Michigan the family begins to adapt and assimilate, each in their own way. Some of the things that struck me:

Nguyen's description of the white population of Grand Rapids: tall, blonde, conservative, and religious. Twelve years ago when this memoir was written, we didn't show more really predict the rise of the ugly specter of white supremacy, but it hit me quickly -- Holy shit, she's talking about the region that spawned Blackwater, Erik Prince, and Betsy DeVos! I tried to imagine what it would be like to be a person of color moving in to that environment. It made my skin crawl a little.

I found the marriage of Nguyen's Vietnamese father and Mexican-American stepmother really interesting. It can't have been all that common for there to be mixed marriages like that in the seventies, and particularly across two non-dominant cultures. Although her parents kept odd secrets from their children and overall seemed rather dysfunctional, I couldn't help but admire Rosa who really was a force with which to be reckoned. She was big-hearted, courageous, and thoroughly immersed in social justice causes, which permeated everything that she did.

The mystery of what became of Bich's biological mother was very understated throughout the memoir, but when we finally got the story, it made me profoundly sad. And yet, Nguyen isn't saddened by it -- it seemed so far removed from her, and her basic needs were met by her family as she was growing up.

I loved Noi, Bich's grandmother. I remember photos in Life Magazine of elderly Vietnamese refugees who got to the cold US and struggled with deep depression. Not so, Noi. She carried on with her life with resilience, serenity, and sometimes joy, even when chaos swirled around the family.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir. It was different from other immigrant's stories that I have read. I recommend it! show less

Insightful yet even poetic metaphor and memory pervades this memoir from a shining light of a debut book. The author's recollection of life in America following feeling Vietnam features references to copious reading and it seems to have improved the author's prose powers. Aside from the writing quality the life itself is fascinating: the difficulties of individuating toward adulthood under a distant stepmom, cruel schoolmates, and the confusing temptations of American consumerism. Nguyen show more struggles with understanding herself and putting together an identity from her heritage and her home while unknowingly moving toward an unexpected reunion. show less

Short Girls tells the story of two second-generation Vietnamese sisters, Van and Linny. Coping with the aftermath of crumbling relationships with their husband and lover, they reunite at their father's citizenship party after being estranged from each other for several years. In the days that follow, they learn more than they ever knew about each other and themselves.

As a second-generation Asian myself, I feel that Nguyen has presented a realistic portrayal of what it is like to be caught show more between two cultures. The book is about "short" people living in an environment created by "tall" people. How do you manage in a world where you don't fit, where you have to struggle and reach to do the normal things everyone else takes for granted?

Nguyen has created an engaging story about two women with wildly contrasting personalities, who initially believe they have absolutely nothing in common. They discover that, despite their differences, they cannot escape their shared cultural history and it is that which ultimately brings them together. show less