Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/29/2013
ISBN-13: 9780679644880
ISBN-10: 0679644881

American-born Eddie Huang, co-owner and chef of BaoHaus restaurant in New York City's East Village, has spent his life defying stereotypes -- and sometimes getting into trouble for his defiance. Huang's Taiwanese parents brought him up in Orlando, Florida, where his Asian appearance often invited insults, but he refuses to be trapped in stereotypes. Through his blog, Fresh Off The Boat, through Twitter, and through this memoir, named after his blog, Eddie Huang speaks out in often profane hip-hop vernacular interspersed with Mandarin and classical English literary references. Off the boat he may not be, but fresh he is -- both as a breath of air and as an in-your-face reminder that postmodernism is here to stay.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/12/2013
ISBN-13: 9780374219079
ISBN-10: 0374219079

Novelist and poet James Lasdun was teaching a fiction writing course at a New York college when one of his students impressed him with her writing abilities. He served as a mentor and helped her look for a publisher, but then her interest in him crossed over into sexual advances. Though he tried to distance himself, she escalated to threats, then began posting defamatory statements on the web and sending obnoxious messages in his name. In Give Me Everything You Have, Lasdun recounts the facts, then compassionately considers what happened from several different angles. This memoir, which Kirkus Reviews says resembles "a script for a horror film," shows how easily anybody can be victimized through cyber technology.

Publisher: Henry Holt
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/05/2013
ISBN-13: 9780805096538
ISBN-10: 0805096531

Photographer Christa Parravani and her identical twin, Cara, supported and sustained each other through abuse during their childhood, failed romances, and all the assaults of life -- until Cara's drug addiction led to her early death. Lost without her counterpart, Christa also began to suffer from mental illness, until she sought in-patient therapy and fought to make a new life on her own. This riveting memoir both honors Cara's memory and serves as a means for Christa to recreate herself in her own image, triumphing over loss and embracing hope.

Publisher: Crown
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/12/2013
ISBN-13: 9780307884848
ISBN-10: 0307884848

John Elder Robison is a successful electrical engineer who worked on sound and lighting effects for KISS before establishing his own business. In his bestselling previous memoir, Look Me in the Eye, Robison discusses how he was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome in his 40s. Raising Cubby explains that his son also has Asperger's and includes an account of how they dealt with the criminal charges brought for Cubby's explosive experiments in his basement chemistry lab. This "warmhearted, appealing" memoir (Kirkus Reviews) offers an eye-opener for readers unfamiliar with conditions such as Asperger's.

Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/26/2013
ISBN-13: 9780812993240
ISBN-10: 0812993241

Domenica "Nikki" Ruta survived her childhood in Danvers, Massachusetts despite her mother's drug addiction, wild swings between poverty and riches, and unrealistic schemes for her daughter's education. Even in the midst of this squalor, Nikki and her mother were very close, and her love for her mother shines through in this engrossing memoir. Nikki eventually faced the devastating necessity of breaking away from her mother in order to launch an independent life of health and sobriety. Those who found such memoirs as Mary Karr's The Liars' Club and Robert Goolrick's The End of the World as We Know It hard to put down will find With or Without You equally compelling.

First Chapter  

American involvement in the Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975.

Publisher: Vintage Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/11/2008
ISBN-13: 9781400075430
ISBN-10: 1400075432

Tom Bissell, a travel and fiction writer as well as the son of a Vietnam veteran, eloquently describes his trip to Vietnam, accompanied by his father, John. Some 40 years after the elder Bissell served -- and almost died -- as a U.S. Marine in the country, the two visit the areas where John Bissell fought. They reflect on how past events still reverberate throughout the lives of thousands of soldiers and their families; in John Bissell's case, besides bad memories and the death of friends, the war contributed to his divorce. This engaging memoir and history also looks at the war's continuing influence in America. The New York Times calls the writing "luminous."

First Chapter  

Publisher: Penguin Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/01/2001
ISBN-13: 9780140280210
ISBN-10: 0140280219

Possibly the most indelible image to emerge from the Vietnam War depicts a naked girl fleeing a napalm attack, screaming with pain as U.S. troops walk behind her. In The Girl in the Picture, author Denise Chong presents a thorough but very accessible biography of that girl, Kim Phuc. From her rural childhood through the agonies of the napalm burns and her survival, Chong relates what happened to Kim. After serving -- unwillingly -- in post-war Communist propaganda, she eventually moved to Canada, where she and her family rebuilt their lives. This detailed and moving account of what it's like to overcome extreme trauma and live a peaceful life contributes an important perspective on the Vietnam War.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Scribner
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/18/2005
ISBN-13: 9780743274883
ISBN-10: 0743274881

In 1970, Air Force pilot John Halliday reported for duty at a base in Thailand, thinking he would be flying supply planes. His actual assignment turned out to be secret bombing missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos -- a campaign during the Vietnam War that was top secret. Flying Through Midnight vividly describes daytime life on the ground, where boredom predominated, and nighttime action in the air, culminating with Halliday's emergency crash landing and rescue by U.S. troops. For more on secret air missions during the Vietnam War, read Rick Newman's Bury us Upside Down, which relates the experiences of the Misty pilots who flew scouting missions along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/03/2005
ISBN-13: 9780618562107
ISBN-10: 0618562109

Fred Cherry, an Air Force bomber pilot, and Porter Halyburton, a Navy jet navigator, were shot down over North Vietnam in 1965 and incarcerated in the infamous prison called the Hanoi Hilton. The North Vietnamese wanted Cherry, the highest ranking black POW, to sign statements intended to demoralize black American troops. They placed Halyburton, a white Southerner, in Cherry's cell in hopes of inciting conflict between the two men. Instead, Halyburton saved Cherry's life, caring for his wounds, bathing him, and making sure that he ate. After Cherry recovered, the unlikely companions sustained each other for eight years, forming a strong friendship and remaining dedicated to their patriotic ideals. Publishers Weekly calls this a "compelling story told compellingly well."

First Chapter  Table of Contents  

Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/23/2009
ISBN-13: 9780307381217
ISBN-10: 0307381218

In The Eaves of Heaven, Andrew Pham relates the life of his father, Thong von Pham, who lived through three wars: the Japanese occupation of Vietnam during World War II; the French occupation following the Japanese defeat; and the war between North and South Vietnam in which the U.S. participated. Interweaving episodes from Thong's childhood, his adolescence, and his adult service in the South Vietnamese army, Andrew emphasizes the suffering that characterized Thong's life. This detailed portrait reveals the very personal effects of war while illuminating the larger picture of Vietnam's modern history.

Table of Contents