Tab Diễm Xưa

[Kathy Douds]

Abouta week after l thị diễm thy found out her book, "The Gangster We Are All Looking For," was chosen as the 2011 One Book, One San Diego selection, we asked about her inspirations, and her reaction to being San Diego's new literary superstar.

I wanted to put out a different story of the Vietnam War and its aftermath. I wanted to look at the repercussions of war through an American setting, through the story of a Vietnamese family now living in San Diego.

"Gangster" is an American story, not only because the characters come to America as a result of a war that the U.S. was engaged in, but also because their experience, of displacement and transition, is one that many different immigrant and refugee groups arriving to these shores share.

Mr. Russell was an imagining of many retirees in San Diego of the WWII generation. He has fond memories of his time in the Pacific, and based on those memories, he extends his good will and generosity to these Vietnamese refugees. Though there are no characters in the book who are Vietnam veterans, I believe that American G.I.s and Vietnamese American refugees have something in common. They share an experience of Vietnam that is difficult for others, who have not been there, to relate to.

Two things that all people draw from in life are experience and imagination. Whatever we have not yet experienced, we must imagine our way toward. Children have not experienced much, so their imaginations fuel them. For much of the first half of the book, the narrator imagines and pictures things she does not really understand, but it is her way of trying to handle what is happening to her-- and she is learning a new language.

Leaving Vietnam was a complicated and painful experience for me, but I do believe that if I had not left, I would not be a writer today. I am looking forward to bringing "Gangster" back to San Diego because in many ways, my life as a writer began in San Diego.

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