A Man of Two Faces

"A kaleidoscopic memoir . . . Deeply personal and intensely political . . . If the author's criticism is understandably scathing, there is also a mischievous sense of humor . . . Nguyen indisputably captures the workings of a quicksilver and penetrating mind . . . Lyrical and biting, by one of our leading writers" * Kirkus Reviews *
"Viet Thanh Nguyen's A Man of Two Faces is a triumphant memoir that sears through the fog of American amnesia. A vulnerable and scorching mirror to self and to nation, his book explores his family's 'epic and quotidian' struggles as refugees and indicts Hollywood as propaganda that has fed the American war machine and anti-Asian racism. It is a fissured lyric on memory and a clarifying meditation on empire. Every American needs to read this essential book." * Cathy Park Hong, author of MINOR FEELINGS, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize *
"A Man of Two Faces is a searing and sensitive memoir on the long shadow that war casts on those who manage to survive it. This book is a work of love and anger and care and it will resonate with everyone who has lost a home" * Laila Lalami, author of THE OTHER AMERICANS and CONDITIONAL CITIZENS *
"A Man of Two Faces is an alchemical feat of memory, history, and theory that beautifully achieves a difficult balance: a bold and searing polemic, it's at the same time a moving, personal tale... Through his family's story, Viet Thanh Nguyen renders not only a powerful portrait of America but - perhaps more necessary in our current moment - also an uplifting act of mourning. Simultaneously raw and lucid, haunting and reasoned, A Man of Two Faces opens up groundbreaking ways to speak the nation's story and a family's pain" * Gina Apostol, author of LA TERCERA *
"None of the usual adjectives apply to Viet Thanh Nguyen's memoir - it is beyond words like brilliant and heartbreaking, because the prose rejects that kind of easy summary. This book belongs with James Baldwin, Claude Brown, Maxine Hong Kingston, and other writers whose memoirs take apart 'the American Dream' with laser precision. Nguyen's tensile anger and evanescent memory is measure of the fundamental sadness of watching his family, and himself, in their dreams, set against the violence and history of this country" * Susan Straight, author of MECCA, finalist for the Kirkus Prize *
'The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer pushes the boundary of genre in his new memoir, which investigates his personal history as a Vietnamese refugeeforced to flee at age 4, as well as the many narratives that form the idea of America itself. Film criticism, poetry and self-effacing jokes are involved, but ultimately, "this is a war story," he writes' * New York Times *
'Having become a prizewinning, best-selling novelist with The Sympathizerand its sequel, The Committed, Nguyen turns to the urgently written story of his own life... He writes about his turbulent childhood, wrestling with his dual identity, rediscovering family in his home country and the effects of American life' * Washington Post *
'Collage may be an apt word to describe this genre-bending memoir from Pulitzer Prize winner and MacArthur fellow Viet Thanh Nguyen. Weaving together forms that include exquisite prose, verse and photographs, this masterful memoir follows the author and his family from their home country of Vietnam as they resettle in San Jose, including explosive revelations about family, memory and loss' * San Francisco Chronicle *
'Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen returns with a deeply personal and political memoir that uses the defining moments of his own life to explore his conflicted relationship with America...A Man of Two Faces is 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' * TIME Magazine *