Vu tran department of english language and literature. Now shes disappeared from her new husband, sonny, a. Henry prize stories and the best american mystery stories. Dinaw mengestu, author of the beautiful things that heaven bears. Vu tran s dragonfish is that rare hybrid marvela literary thriller, a narrative of migration and loss that upends the conventions of any form. This remarkable debut is a noir pageturner resonant with the lasting reverberations of lives lost and lives remade a generation ago. Vu trans novel, dragonfish, is partly mystery, partly an immigrant story, and partly about loss and heartbreak. Dragonfish employs the tropes of the crime novel and the noir noveltwo genres that revolve around the endless permutations and consequences of violenceto dramatize how the. In the spring of 1980, tran, his mother, and his sevenyearold sister escaped vietnam by. A san francisco chronicle best book of the year noteperfect. Robert, an oakland cop, still cant let go of suzy, the enigmatic vietnamese wife who left him two years ago. Written by vu tran, audiobook narrated by tom taylorson, nancy wu. Each week, our editors select the one author and one book they believe to be most worthy of your attention and highlight them in our pro connect email alert.
Profounda polished dagger of a novel that will cut out your heart. A thrilling work of sophisticated suspense set amid the vietnamese unde. The central conceit of vu tran s debut is refreshing. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. As vu tran s debut novel, dragonfish, opens, suzy vietnamese name, hong has disappeared from her vegas home. Now shes disappeared from her new husband, sonny, a violent vietnamese smuggler and gambler whos blackmailing robert into finding her for him. Signin to download and listen to this audiobook today. As he pursues her through the sleek and seamy gambling dens of las vegas, shadowed by. Dinaw mengestu, author of all our names robert, an oakland cop, still cant let go of suzy, the enigmatic vietnamese wife who left him two years ago. Dragonfish robert, an oakland cop, still cant let go of suzy, the enigmatic vietnamese wife who left him two years ago. That said, dragonfish was very much a pageturner for me.
Dragonfish vu tran, read by tom taylorson and nancy wu. Ruens story gives the book top crime credentials, but its suzys. She was one of many boat people, and this aspect of the story might well be modeled after vu tran s reallife experiences where he and most of his family were refugees at pulau bidong before passage to oklahoma. From seemingly out of nowhere and with little advance fanfare comes a book you must read. Dragonfish by vu tran read online in pdf full version. Vu tran was born in saigon in 1975, and grew up in tulsa, oklahoma. At its core, this richly satisfying work is pure noir.
This antiassimilationist seam runs through the fabric of vu trans debut novel, a disjointed and uninvolving exploration of the immigrant. Dragonfish opens with a brief letter written by a vietnamese immigrant named hong thi pham, also known as suzy. Charles bock, new york times bestselling author of beautiful children, dragonfish, a novel, vu tran, 9780393352870. Robert ruen, the firstperson narrator, is a fortyfiveyearold oakland policeman, two years divorced from his vietnamese wife, suzy, a woman who left him the day after he slugged her in the face. Times best selling author of beautiful children, dragonfish, a novel, vu tran, 9780393352870. Dragonfish, by vu tran, represents a new departure, a renegotiation of terms in which the past is not a place of nostalgia but one that carries all the trauma of war, and the present is not. The spoken word doesnt count for much in vu trans hardhitting debut novel, dragonfish. Dragonfish by vu tran, 9780393077803, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. The spoken word doesnt count for much in vu tran s hardhitting debut novel, dragonfish. Henry prize stories, the best american mystery stories, best of fence, and other publications. Vu tran s debut thriller, dragonfish, surprises in ways that readers may not initially expect. Vu tran was born in saigon, vietnam, and raised in oklahoma.
For those of us who have read countless books by vietnamese authors and members of the diaspora, the novel dragonfish is not just one more installment of ethnic literature or postwar fiction. Robert ruen, an oakland cop, has spent several years and a. Vu tran s first novel, dragonfish, was a ny times notable book and a san francisco chronicle best books of the year. Vu tran was born in saigon in 1975, five months after the city fell to the north vietnamese and five months after his father, a captain in the south vietnamese air force, was forced to flee the country. A thrilling work of sophisticated suspense set amid the vietnamese underworld in las vegas. Like his predecessors, tran sets about writing a novel of transformation and redemption that is anything but easy. He is the winner of a whiting award, and his short stories have appeared in many publications, including the o. The book turns on a few weary confessional speeches, but what people write is usually much more important. He teaches creative writing at the university of chicago.
Henry and being a finalist for the vilcek prize for creative promise. He graduated from the university of tulsa with an ma, from the iowa writers workshop with an mfa, and from the. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide. This remarkable debut novel is a noir pageturner resonant with the lasting reverberations of lives lost and lives remade a. Vu tran reads from his debut novel dragonfish together. A new york times notable book of 2015 vu tran s dragonfish is that rare hybrid marvela literary thriller, a narrative of migration and loss that upends the conventions of any form. Her husband, a local gangster called sonny nguyen, recruits suzys exhusband, robert ruen, to track her down. Get this book free when you sign up for a 30day trial. In vu tran s debut novel dragonfish, released this week, the gray zones of uncertainty loom large for six characters all linked to one woman, a vietnamese refugee who, almost two decades after arriving in the u. In dragonfish, suzy writes about leaving vietnam with her daughter, and arriving on an island before finally being resettled in the united states. Vu tran has written a thrilling and cinematic work of sophisticated suspense and haunting lyricism, set in motion by characters who can neither trust each other nor trust themselves. Every description was vivid, from life in a refugee camp, to the 247 neon lights of vegas, vu tran really masterfully crafted an environment of suppression, hopelessness, and one of lost love. Vu tran has been building a substantial literary reputation with his short stories, winning awards such as the o.
Tran draws the reader into an exquisitely rendered world of violence and heartbreak, loss and love that is impossible to forget. It is titled dragonfish and is the debut work of vu tran, who teaches creative writing to a very fortunate group of students at the university of chicago. Vu tran, author of dragonfish author vu tran s debut novel reflects his own experiences escaping vietnam as a child. Dragonfish is a strong first novel for its risk taking, for its collapsing of genre, for its elegant language and its mediation of a history that is integral to post1960s american identity yet often ignoredabove all, tran s novel is a refreshing and entertaining story. Vu hoang tran born 1975 is a vietnamese american writer. The expression, its a vietnamese thing is uttered more than once in dragonfish, vu tran s odd, transfixing existential thriller. Dragonfish is the 2015 debut novel by writer vu tran. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading dragonfish. My first novel, dragonfish a ny times notable book and a san francisco chronicle best books of the yearis a literary crime novel that follows a white american police officers search in las vegas for his missing exwife. Assistant professor of practice in the arts, director of undergraduate studies in creative writing. Robert, is not the melting pot you americans like to say it is, a southeast asian michael corleone lectures the white hero of dragonfish.