Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam

Pham was born in Vietnam in 1967 but fled to America with his family in 1977. In the mid-1990s, he took the cycling trip to Vietnam on which this book is based. The author presents himself as conflicted over his cultural identity: He feels neither fully American nor fully Vietnamese. Pham provides many examples in the book that illustrate how his perception and treatment by others reinforce his feelings of conflicted identity. Pham also struggles with family dynamics throughout the narrative. 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). These issues lead him back to Vietnam in search of his roots and some answers. 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. After spending time with family and countrymen, however, Pham soon concocts a working definition of home, and what family signifies. He returns to the US with his newfound sense of identity.