Never before has the Bolsavik witnessed a Viet author cause such excitement among his fellow scribes. Within the space of 2 days, half a dozen people separately asked the Bolsavik if he’s going to Los Angeles this Sunday for 29-year-old author Nam Le‘s (pictured)
book signing and reading of his collection of short stories “The Boat.”
Maybe part of the excitement is because it’s been a while since a book by a Viet author came out. (Self-publications by “authors” with more money than they deserve don’t count.)
But that quantitative aspect doesn’t explain it all. There must be something to the book’s literary value that caused noises about this book signing to come from such diverse quarters as Mariam B. Lam, literature and film studies professor at UC Riverside; Anhdao Do, spoken word artist, Las Vegas magician and editor of the Vietnamese literature web site Damau.org; Quang X. Pham, conservative Republican, decorated Marine veteran, author, and CEO of a biotech company; Ky-Phong Tran, the liberal self-described “not liberal or conservative, just open-minded” award-winning journalist for Nguoi Viet 2 and publisher of Asian American Poetry and Writing; etc. Not to mention the Bolsavik’s brother, who like his brother before him doesn’t get excited easily.
Quang X. Pham, on the other hand, got so excited he gushed, “Nam Le’s remarkable collection of short stories has a very good chance of getting short listed for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction next April … absolutely the best fiction writing I’ve read in a long time.” That probably qualifies as hyperbole, but maybe by only just.
Nam Le will be appearing here:
Sunday, June 29, 7:00 p.m.
Skylight Books
1818 N. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027.
Google map here.
Some review excerpts:
* From the New York Times here:
This story, like many in “The Boat,” catches people in moments of extremis, confronted by death or loss or terror (or all three) and forced to grapple at the most fundamental level with who they are and what they want or believe. Whether it’s the prospect of dying at sea or being shot by a drug kingpin or losing family members in a war, Nam Le’s people are individuals trapped in the crosshairs of fate, forced to choose whether they will react like deer caught in the headlights, or whether they will find a way to confront or disarm the situation.
… The other tales in this book, however, circumnavigate the globe, demonstrating Mr. Le’s astonishing ability to channel the experiences of a multitude of characters, from a young child living in Hiroshima during World War II to a 14-year-old hit man in the barrios of Medellín to a high school jock in an Australian beach town. Mr. Le not only writes with an authority and poise rare even among longtime authors, but he also demonstrates an intuitive, gut-level ability to convey the psychological conflicts people experience when they find their own hopes and ambitions slamming up against familial expectations or the brute facts of history.
* The Times actually reviews this book twice. Another review appears here, by novelist Hari Kunzru:
“The Boat” is transparently a product of the increasingly formalized milieu in which American writers train — a well-wrought collection that, in its acute self-consciousness, trails a telltale whiff of “the industry” that is its initial concern, of the “heap of fellowship and job applications” the fictional Le needs “to draft and submit” when he’s interrupted by his father. “Ethnic lit” is unhappily what emerges when identity politics head into the marketing meeting, and for any writer with a non-WASP name, it’s all too easy to feel one is being pimped for one’s “background and life experience” (real or imaginary), and somehow colluding in the production of a crude, essentialized version of oneself in return for an advantage over ethnically uninteresting peers.
* The L.A. Times interviews Nam Le here:
Nam Le’s critically lauded first book, “The Boat,” is a story collection in name only — no overarching theme, location or character ties it together. The stories take up youth, atrocity, friendships, family. They take place in Iowa and Iran and Colombia. They feature as protagonists a New York painter, a teenage assassin and a writer named Nam Le.
* From the San Francisco Chronicle here:
You may never have heard of Nam Le, but with the publication of his first collection of short stories, “The Boat,” you can expect to hear much more about him in the future. Nam Le was born in Vietnam, grew up in Australia and worked as a corporate lawyer before coming to the United States to attend the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Not yet 30, he is already an extraordinarily accomplished and sophisticated writer.
* From the (Queensland, Australia) Courier-Mail here:
In this, his ambitious and compelling debut collection of short stories, Australian expatriate writer Nam Le blurs the boundaries between fact and fiction with an ease that might be disturbing were it not so beautifully executed.
Nam Le’s web site is here.
Quang Pham seems like a good candidate with a great background. Did he consider running for Congress before? What stopped him?
It is so refreshing to see the Vietnamese appreciating the freedom of America. I attended an “illegal Immigration” protest at Home Depot in Westminster on Saturday and what I saw was very encouragning from one standpoint. There were countless cars driving by honking and giving the protestors “thumbs up” signs. The other thing that was discouraging was the number of “day laborers” that stood around in the Home Depot Parking lot waiting to be exploited by those that would hire them. They are here illegally, they don’t pay taxes, and they insult our flag and our country. They call the protestors “racists” when race has nothing to do with it. Within the protestors group were four or five LEGAL Americans of Mexican descent who have immigrated here the correct way. The police came in several cars due to an incidence of violence from one of those who did not like the protestors at Home Depot. One of them was arrested for assaulting one of the protestors. The Westminster Police did an excellent job protecting the rights of the protestors. They were not on private property, but on public sidewalks exercising their right to a free assembly and freedom of speech. The “day laborors” were loitering in bunches on the private property of Home Depot. The Management of Home Depot sent word out through the Police Department that if the protestors came back and were on the private property they would be arrested. Yet they let the “day laborers” loiter all day there waiting to be picked up for jobs. So much for the American ideals that we would expect of Home Depot.
The Vietnamese, in sharp contrast to these “day laborers” appreciate the freedom and respect our country. There were also “agitators” there saying rude things and sticking camera’s in the protestors faces trying to get good “footage” of someone getting angry.
I think the Vietnamese have good practice in protests, the next time there is one at Home Depot you are all welcome to join the protestors against illegal immigration. Let them see how coming to American SHOULD be done!
I am not a liberal nor a conservative. I am just open-minded. Please retract of rephrase or I will fire you too. Also, I am first and foremostly, a fiction writer. Word up.
There were quite a few book fans who showed up last night in LA at Nam’s reading.
Hyperbole? In 1993, Vietnam veteran Robert Olen Butler won the Pulitzer for his short story collection titled “A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain.” His were voices of Vietnamese living in Louisiana. In a way Nam Le’s collection is remarkable in that only two of the short stories in “The Boat” had anything to do with Vietnam. Nam’s writing ability reaches many beyond the ethnic lit/Vietnamese diaspora readership.
Publius — I realized there are independent voters but no real independent Congressional candidates who could actually win. (Bernie Sanders of Vermont doesn’t really count.) Ballot access makes it extremely difficult for a DTS candidate to get on the general election ballot. Democrat and GOP candidates only have less than 100 signatures to gather while a DTS candidate in the 47th CD needs to collect over 5,200 valid signatures who reside in the district (gather within two or three months) in order to make the November ballot.
Drop me an email at my web site, http://www.pham4congress.com, regarding 2010.
Quang,
I’m a little confused by your reply to Publius. Are you actually DTS? Then you should sue Bolsavik for slander since he called you a “conservative Republican” above!
“American” Woman needs to read up on the very different immigration and economic histories of latino day laborers and Vietnamese Americans in this U.S. of A. of hers, as well as the stereotypical “model minority” comments she makes herself in the above post as she condescendingly patronizes the diasporic Vietnamese at the cost of defaming the Home Depot workers. Why not go out there and unionize them instead of gawking in judgement, so they can do the kind of paid legal labor she purports to support but would never fill herself?
“Educator” – Unionize illegal immigrants? I think that is a contradiction..they are here illegally, I don’t think they are eligible to join unions. I’m not patronizing anyone. I have stted many times in other posts that I am glad the Viets came here and are an industrious part of our community, they didn’t come here to undermine our way of life, or to disrepsect America. They are glad to be here and be free. And they have legal status. I support paid legal labor and when I engage a contractor the first question I ask them is “you are not going to pick up any illegal aliens at Home Depot to do this job are you?” second question: Can I see your Worker’s Comp certification for all employees. I’m not defaming them I’m pointing out they need to “get legal”.
VietPundit — do I need a Bolsalawyer to sue the Bolsavik?
there have been unionization efforts on behalf of illegal immigrant workers for decades, as long as there has been exploitation of illegal immigrant workers. there have even been documentary and feature films in wide-release on the subject. for American Woman, i wonder why you assume “the Viets came here and are an industrious part of our community; they didn’t come here to undermine our way of life, or to disrespect America,” but you do not allow yourself to even imagine the same of illegal Latinos? do you know how much many countless illegal and legal Latinos contribute daily to this country? did you read Bolsavik’s most recent post of about Viet immigrants in the prostitution ring? legality is a question fraught with political and economic complexities and motivations that the Home Depot management, for example, has flip-flopped on for many years. i think an incident like this should allow us all to re-evaluate our own limited understanding and positionality around these topics, rather than to polarize and create more dissention between ethnic communities and peoples.
Last time, I forgot to say thanks to the Bolsavik for sharing with us this great story. I definitely want to get a copy of “The Boat.”
Quang,
Thanks! Nice author’s web site! Will email you.
AmericanWoman,
I think many Americans share your totally valid concerns. We also have to be clear-minded about this complex problem, which must be resolved at the federal level. With President McCain, he will get all sides sit down at the table and work out an effective bipartisanly supported solution.
Bolsavik: thanks for a refreshing story that makes us all proud.
Quang: you should seriously consider running. too may yahoos out there claiming to represent us. a congressional seat for your first run may be a tall order though. how about the assembly or oc board of sup?
I, too, am considering a run…
…the Long Beach Marathon in October…
Boy, when did this blog start to get over-run with conservative lobbyist?
Vietnamese Australian Nam Le’s work is an interesting comparison to Vietnamese American fiction writing.
The Bolsavik may be more excitable than he would like to project.
Silent Majority – please send me an email for further discussion via the CONTACT Tab at my website. Loretta Brixey ran as a 32-year-old Republican and lost her Anaheim city council race in 1994 while she had been living in Palos Verdes. She dropped Brixey, added Sanchez, switched party, and beat Bob Dornan two years later then again in 1998. A tall order or pay my dues? I have no interest in the Assembly and Janet Nguyen will be Supervisor for eight plus years.
Ky-Phong, I will be running the Long Beach Half Marathon on 10/12/08 which is two weeks before I run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC.
Start out slow…
I was just kidding…nowadays I only run to the liquor store…or when the cops come after me…