Catfish and Mandala

My father gave this book to me long before. But still I am not able to read this book completely. because the vocabulary used by the author is very difficult to understand.

This book is written by Andhrew X Pham. Catfish and Mandala is a raw memoir of the authors quest to understand his identity as a transplanted Vietnamese in the American society as well as his identity as a Vietnamese American in his native Vietnam. The story hinges on Pham's attempt to bicycle his way from California, around the Pacific Rim, through Japan and finally through his homeland covering the stretch of the American-built Highway 1 from Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) to Hanoi.

Catfish and Mandala jumps between Pham’s narrative of his journey, his escape from Vietnam upon the fall of Saigon (now HCMC) and his childhood in the United States. The book is interspersed with details of his family’s struggle against racism and language barriers.