A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial

wow. this is incredible. i haven't read his fiction, which is what he's famous for, so can only imagine how good it must be. because this is stellar. the way he writes, the things he does on the page, his ability to surprise with a little humor here and there. this is such a great book. he's left me with so much to think about.

i could quote it all but i'll quote his quoting of arundhati roy, who said: "There's really no such thing as the 'voiceless.' There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard."

This memoir – it is really more than a memoir as the subtitle suggests – expands upon themes Professor Nguyen has explored in his previous works: colonialization, racism, the difficulties facing refugees in this country, and notions of identity complicated by a complicated war. Not only does Nguyen explore his own family’s flight from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon in 1975, but also his parents flight from North Vietnam to South Vietnam when the communists took over the northern part of the country and the complex relationship they had as “invaders” and “imperialists” with the Montagnards who populated in the region where they settled. Beyond that, Nguyen explores his family’s life as refugees first in Pennsylvania show more than in San Jose, California. Nguyen pulls no punches in his assessments of Vietnam War films and the prejudices he and his family faced here in America. As a Caucasian American, I found the criticisms sharp and difficult, but hardly unwarranted. As ever, Nguyen’s writing is lyrical and full of interesting typographic devices, like lines of poetry, and his style is self-effacing and humorous in the face of the challenges his family faced. show less

This memoir tells the story of Viet Thanh Nguyen's escape from Vietnam at the age of four with his brother and parents to America™ as he writes it. And then what follows is a rage at the racism, the eradication of their previous lives and the effect this has on him.

Written in a fragmentary form with text justified on both sides of the page and sometimes laid out as poetry, the dominant themes are circled around again and again. Racism, the American Dream, colanisation and colonisers, being seen as Asian not Vietnamese, war and how all of this has shaped him.

There is an indepth exploration of the use of film to rewrite history, particularly for war films - Apocalypse Now, Green Berets. All watched and uncomfortable in some way. This is show more how America rewrites history.

Eventually you realise that Green Berets is a work of propaganda so spectacular and atrocious that only the Third Reich or Hollywood could have made it.
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As VTN becomes a father and takes on a new role, his understanding of his parents becomes clearer. They may not have said 'I love you', but their actions, their working long hours in the shop, providing a 'good' education for their children, all were about protecting and providing - symbols of love. And then, in later years, saying the words. So here is a new role, fatherhood, that helps him to find his voice.

The title comes from the opening line in The Sympathizer,

I am a spy, a sleeper, a spook, a man of two faces.
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I wonder how many refugees see themselves as having two faces - their place of birth and where they settle after escaping. Perhaps settle is the wrong word because VTN sounds anything but settled. He is a spy for America inside his own home and a spy for Vietnam outside of his home. He is a sleeper in that for decades he doesn't tell his parents everything he does, including dating J, and his parents don't burden him with their worries and losses. He is a spook in the ghostly sense because he is a ghost of his own emotions, often numb at critical events.

I actually wondered as I read it whether there was anything new in this book. Margo Jefferson and Christina Sharpe have both written fragmentary memoirs exploring racism, representation, family and being 'othered'. Their innovation was subtler such as Jefferson crossing out elements of the quotes that didn't fit her, reflecting deletion, and writing in her own. Both also showed the importance of writing and finding their own voices. This is not to diminish the strength of voice that VTN discovers, merely to point out that he is not the only one that thinks like this and there is little acknowledgement of this idea. Other textual playings are to black out Trump's name whenever it is needed in the book and that feels clumsy - I had to say the word in my head when I read it so it's still there, like it or not.

My heart always sinks when I see a quote that says 'Every American needs to read it.'The same happened with The Maid by Stephanie Lander and then with this book. What I suspect is that those who need to read it are the very people who won't. It's a book that preaches to the converted. show less

Deeply personal and political...A witty and scathing look at what it means to be a refugee, an immigrant, and an American in a world that doesn't see you as you see yourself.

Very powerful and very good. Recommended for anyone who works on “refugees issues

I listened to the audiobook, and would have like the hardcover better I think. Viet Thanh Nguyen reads so beautifully, and even with him reading his own audiobook, it wasn't as compelling.