The blackface incidents at Cal Poly show why we need more education about racism
Viet Thanh Nguyen reflects on the blackface incidents at Cal Poly in this piece originally published by the Los Angeles Times. For the second time in a matter of weeks, a white student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo wore blackface. After the first incident, in late April, the student who had worn blackface then, Kyler Watkins, wrote in a […]
Refugees, optimism and literary roots: Viet Thanh Nguyen and Mohsin Hamid in conversation
Viet Thanh Nguyen and Mohsin Hamid discuss the refugee crisis and their own books in this for Los Angeles Public Library ALOUD. Among critic at large Viet Thanh Nguyen’s many accomplishments is his acclaimed short story collection “The Refugees.” In April he spoke to Mohsin Hamid, whose novel “Exit West” was a finalist for the […]
In Praise of Doubt and Uselessness
The following article by Viet Thanh Nguyen was originally published by the Los Angeles Times. Almost exactly 20 years ago, I arrived in Los Angeles in the month of June. I had received my doctorate from UC Berkeley in May and had turned 26 in February. That summer, I found a small apartment in Silver […]
In Viet Thanh Nguyen’s ‘The Refugees,’ wistfulness is an anthem of displacement
Karen Long reviews Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Refugees. Originally published by The Los Angeles Times. In a short time, Viet Thanh Nguyen has encircled the American literary consciousness: first with his mind-bending 2015 novel “The Sympathizer,” then last year’s cultural history “Nothing Ever Dies” and now with eight short stories entitled “The Refugees.” Nguyen, the […]
Nothing Ever Dies is a Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award
Viet’s book Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War is a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in General Nonfiction. The book was also a finalist for the National Book Award in Nonfiction. The following article by Caroline Kellogg was originally published in the Los Angeles Times. The National Book Critics Circle […]
Viet Thanh Nguyen on the Democrats’ Failure and Our Future
This essay by Viet Thanh Nguyen was originally published by the Los Angeles Times. Donald Trump has triumphed, an accomplishment that many, except his most ardent supporters, deemed to be impossible. For all of his faults, and they are many, he made a daring bet that paid off. He told a story that half of […]
National Book Award Finalist Viet Thanh Nguyen Speaks Out on War, Capitalism and Donald Trump
Viet Thanh Nguyen is interviewed by Jeffrey Fleishman on his thoughts on celebrity culture, capitalism, and American imperialism. Originally published by the Los Angeles Times. A sense of the other seeps through Viet Thanh Nguyen’s work, a place where war and memory play like discordant whispers, and defining one’s identity, especially for an immigrant or a […]
Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Great American Novels: The Woman Warrior and China Men
Viet Thanh Nguyen reviews Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior and China Men. The following article was originally posted by the Los Angeles Times on June 30, 2016. No one can claim in absolute seriousness to be writing the Great American Novel, not without risking the polite smiles and muted derision of others. One says […]
The Making of Asian America is a Stirring Chronicle Long Overdue
Viet Thanh Nguyen reviews Erika Lee’s The Making of Asian America: A History. Originally posted by the Los Angeles Times on September 3, 2015. Asian Americans are the fastest-growing minority population in the United States. They have been living in this country in significant numbers since Chinese immigrants came hunting for gold in the middle […]
Viet Thanh Nguyen Tackles War’s Aftermath in The Sympathizer
Viet Thanh Nguyen is interviewed by Jessica Gelt for the Los Angeles Times. Much of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s debut novel, “The Sympathizer” (Grove: 371 pp., $26), takes place in the bland stucco flatlands of Los Angeles between the fall of Saigon in 1975 and the staging and aftermath of a failed counterrevolution by members of […]
