![]() ![]() He returns to the US with his newfound sense of identity. Pham was born in Vietnam and raised in California. Pham 4.8 (13) Paperback (REV) 22.00 Paperback 22.00 eBook 12. Halfpriced & New Books on Instagram: 'Catfish and Mandala is the story of an American odysseya solo bicycle voyage around the Pacific Rim to Vietnammade by a young Vietnamese-American man in pursuit of both his adopted homeland and his forsaken fatherland. After spending time with family and countrymen, however, Pham soon concocts a working definition of home, and what family signifies. Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew X. Once there, he soon realizes that the “Hollywood” ideal of catharsis he had in mind has no place among the reality of a lost childhood: Most of the places he remembers are gone, and his memories can’t initially reconcile with the shift. These issues lead him back to Vietnam in search of his roots and some answers. In particular, he tries to sort out what led his brother Minh, who was born his sister Chi, to commit suicide, and plumbs the source of his family’s violence (specifically on his father’s side). Pham also struggles with family dynamics throughout the narrative. Pham provides many examples in the book that illustrate how his perception and treatment by others reinforce his feelings of conflicted identity. The author presents himself as conflicted over his cultural identity: He feels neither fully American nor fully Vietnamese. In the mid-1990s, he took the cycling trip to Vietnam on which this book is based. ![]() Pham was born in Vietnam in 1967 but fled to America with his family in 1977. ![]()
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