Background
Published in April of 2020, “Sigh, Gone” is the autobiography of an immigrant from Vietnam and his experiences growing up in America.
My Thoughts
It was a pretty good book all and all. I didn’t care for the amount of strong language in it but I guess that was his experience. It was also refreshing to hear from another perspective of someone identifying as “other”, as the sociologists say. Phuc really had a hard time navigating through what was expected of him both of society and his family.
The unspoken truth is we all have had the same experiences. Yes, there are certainly those who had it worse than others but all of us identify as the “other” and have had to try to “fit in” at some point or another. We all experience confusion and all have baggage from their parents.
I’d encourage anyone who thinks America is a terrible place to do some traveling. Phuc tells about how he won the Thanksgiving theme essay contest because he was simply thankful his grandparents were “safe in America”. I’ve lived abroad for a time and there are certainly worse places than the USofA.
Recommendation
It was a captivating read and interesting subject. However, there is a lot of strong language and less-than-ideal content. (There is a reason the author forbade his children from reading it till they were at least 16.)