Synopses & Reviews
As a Vietnamese girl coming of age in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Bich Nguyen is filled with a rapacious hunger for American identity. In the pre-PC-era Midwest, where the devoutly Christian blond-haired, blue-eyed Jennifers and Tiffanys reign supreme, the barely conscious desire to belong transmutes into a passion for American food. More exotic-seeming than her Buddhist grandmothera (TM)s traditional specialties a spring rolls; delicate pancakes stuffed with meats, herbs, and bean sprouts; fried shrimp cakes a the campy, preservative-filled a oedelicaciesa of mainstream America capture her imagination. And in this remarkable book, the glossy branded allure of such American foods as Pringles, Kit Kats, and Toll House cookies becomes an ingenious metaphor for her struggle to fit in, to become a a oereala American, a distinction that brings with it the dream of the perfect school lunch, burgers and Jell-O for dinner, and a visit from the Kool-Aid man.
Beginning with Nguyena (TM)s familya (TM)s harrowing migration out of Saigon in 1975, Stealing Buddhaa (TM)s Dinner is also a portrayal of a diverse family: Nguyena (TM)s hardworking, hard-partying father, pretty sister, and wise and nurturing grandmother a and Rosa, her Latina stepmother, the loving, no-nonsense foil to her gastronomical and materialistic fixations. And there is the mystery of Nguyena (TM)s birth mother, unveiled movingly over the course of the book.
Nostalgic and candid, deeply satisfying and minutely observed, Stealing Buddhaa (TM)s Dinner is a unique vision of the immigrant experience and a lyrical ode to how identity is often shaped by the things we long for.
Synopsis
As a Vietnamese girl coming of age in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Nguyen is filled with a rapacious hunger for American identity, and in the pre-PC-era Midwest (where the Jennifers and Tiffanys reign supreme), the desire to belong transmutes into a passion for American food. More exotic-seeming than her Buddhist grandmotherAAA1/2s traditional specialties, the campy, preservative-filled AAA1/2delicaciesAAA1/2 of mainstream America capture her imagination.
In Stealing BuddhaAAA1/2s Dinner, the glossy branded allure of Pringles, Kit Kats, and Toll House Cookies becomes an ingenious metaphor for NguyenAAA1/2s struggle to become a AAA1/2realAAA1/2 American, a distinction that brings with it the dream of the perfect school lunch, burgers and Jell-O for dinner, and a visit from the Kool-Aid man. Vivid and viscerally powerful, this remarkable memoir about growing up in the 1980s introduces an original new literary voice and an entirely new spin on the classic assimilation story.
Synopsis
Beginning with her family's harrowing migration out of Saigon in 1975, Stealing Buddha's Dinner follows Bich Nguyen as she comes of age in the pre-PC-era Midwest. Filled with a rapacious hunger for American identity, Nguyen's desire to belong transmutes into a passion for American food ? Pringles, Kit Kats, and Toll House cookies. More exotic-seeming than her Buddhist grandmother's traditional specialties, the campy, preservative-filled ?delicacies? of mainstream America become an ingenious metaphor for her struggle to become a ?real? American. Stealing Buddha's Dinner is also a portrayal of a diverse family: Nguyen's hardworking, hard-partying father; pretty sister; wise and nurturing grandmother; and Rosa, her Latina stepmother. And there is the mystery of Nguyen's birth mother, unveiled movingly over the course of the book. Nostalgic and candid, Stealing Buddha's Dinner is a unique vision of the immigrant experience and a lyrical ode to how identity is often shaped by the things we long for.?Her typical and not-so-typical childhood experiences give her story a universal flavor.? ? USA Today?Beautifully written... Nguyen] is fearless in asserting the specificities of memories culled from early childhood and is, herself, an appealing character on the page...A writer to watch.? ? Chicago Tribune?Perfectly pitched and prodigiously detailed.? ? The Boston Globe