- Hardcover: 246 pages
- Publisher: Villard Books (25 Jan 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0345508726
- ISBN-13: 978-0345508720
- Product Dimensions: 18.4 x 2.5 x 24.3 cm
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
128,662 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #68 in Books > Biography > War & Espionage > Vietnam War
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Product Description
Product Description
A superb new graphic memoir in which an inspired artist/storyteller reveals the road that brought his family to where they are today: Vietnamerica
GB Tran is a young Vietnamese American artist who grew up distant from (and largely indifferent to) his family’s history. Born and raised in South Carolina as a son of immigrants, he knew that his parents had fled Vietnam during the fall of Saigon. But even as they struggled to adapt to life in America, they preferred to forget the past—and to focus on their children’s future. It was only in his late twenties that GB began to learn their extraordinary story. When his last surviving grandparents die within months of each other, GB visits Vietnam for the first time and begins to learn the tragic history of his family, and of the homeland they left behind.
In this family saga played out in the shadow of history, GB uncovers the root of his father’s remoteness and why his mother had remained in an often fractious marriage; why his grandfather had abandoned his own family to fight for the Viet Cong; why his grandmother had had an affair with a French soldier. GB learns that his parents had taken harrowing flight from Saigon during the final hours of the war not because they thought America was better but because they were afraid of what would happen if they stayed. They entered America—a foreign land they couldn’t even imagine—where family connections dissolved and shared history was lost within a span of a single generation.
In telling his family’s story, GB finds his own place in this saga of hardship and heroism. Vietnamerica is a visually stunning portrait of survival, escape, and reinvention—and of the gift of the American immigrants’ dream, passed on to their children. Vietnamerica is an unforgettable story of family revelation and reconnection—and a new graphic-memoir classic.
GB Tran is a young Vietnamese American artist who grew up distant from (and largely indifferent to) his family’s history. Born and raised in South Carolina as a son of immigrants, he knew that his parents had fled Vietnam during the fall of Saigon. But even as they struggled to adapt to life in America, they preferred to forget the past—and to focus on their children’s future. It was only in his late twenties that GB began to learn their extraordinary story. When his last surviving grandparents die within months of each other, GB visits Vietnam for the first time and begins to learn the tragic history of his family, and of the homeland they left behind.
In this family saga played out in the shadow of history, GB uncovers the root of his father’s remoteness and why his mother had remained in an often fractious marriage; why his grandfather had abandoned his own family to fight for the Viet Cong; why his grandmother had had an affair with a French soldier. GB learns that his parents had taken harrowing flight from Saigon during the final hours of the war not because they thought America was better but because they were afraid of what would happen if they stayed. They entered America—a foreign land they couldn’t even imagine—where family connections dissolved and shared history was lost within a span of a single generation.
In telling his family’s story, GB finds his own place in this saga of hardship and heroism. Vietnamerica is a visually stunning portrait of survival, escape, and reinvention—and of the gift of the American immigrants’ dream, passed on to their children. Vietnamerica is an unforgettable story of family revelation and reconnection—and a new graphic-memoir classic.
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50 reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
A Nation of Immigrants
20 Feb 2011
Format:Hardcover
There were two major factors that sparked my interest in Vietnamerica. One is a fascination with how well memoirs can work in graphic format. The other, as a grandson of immigrants, is a lifelong interest in the American immigrant experience -- for the immigrants themselves and for their descendents. GB Tran exceeded my expectations with this moving examination of his family's story. He does a masterful job using words and images to illuminate character and setting, as only the best graphic memoirs do. It is fascinating how the very specific experience of this family fits in and enriches the overall American immigrant experience. (By the way, my comments are based on reading the color version of Vietnamerica. I hope those whose reviews were based on the black and white advanced copy take the time to experience this piece in color. Tran uses color subtly but very effectively.) I highly recommend Vietnamerica; I know I will accompany the Trans on their journey many more times.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4 1/2 stars
15 Dec 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
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I really liked the animated approach to such a complex subject. I was a military policeman in Saigon during the war and it was enjoyable to see how the artist/story teller captured so many familiar nuances. The artist does a wonderful job capturing moods and emotions in his characters and in the settings themselves.
If I had a complaint it would be that I got lost from time to time. The point of view transitions and time transitions were sometimes quite abrupt, necessitating looking back a page or two to figure out what was going on.
Nonetheless, I was left with a powerful sense of the ups and downs of this relatively typical family living in and struggling to survive some horrific events.
Highly recommended.
Loren W. Christensen, co-author of On COmbat
If I had a complaint it would be that I got lost from time to time. The point of view transitions and time transitions were sometimes quite abrupt, necessitating looking back a page or two to figure out what was going on.
Nonetheless, I was left with a powerful sense of the ups and downs of this relatively typical family living in and struggling to survive some horrific events.
Highly recommended.
Loren W. Christensen, co-author of On COmbat
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Misses Greatness, But Not By Much
20 Jan 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I wanted to like Vietnamerica more than I did. Tran has an engaging art style, even in the black and white of the advance copy, and his family story is compelling. While all the pieces are there the story fails to come together in an effortless manner. Vietnamerica is more of a steady push than a heady sweep. It's easy to lose track of the narrative in the back and forth pace of the story, making it feel more forced than the best works of this genre. All the standard elements are here, the complicated father, the unappreciative son, the underlying theme that they can never understand each other until they do. Certainly the story of Vietnamese emigration is underserved in graphic form. For me, the emotional connection to Tran's family didn't take hold. I was interested in what happened but not mesmerized by it. I don't know if this was because of the slightly disjointed nature of the telling or if it was that Tran himself didn't have much interest in the tale until the end. There is a lot to recommend Vietnamerica, but it doesn't rise above it's format.
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