Down and Out in Saigon

Down and Out in Saigon

Author: Haydon Cherry

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2019-05-28

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 0300218257

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A moving portrait of the lives of six poor city-dwellers, set in early twentieth century colonial Saigon Historian Haydon Cherry offers the first comprehensive social history of the urban poor of colonial French Saigon by following the lives of six individuals--a prostitute, a Chinese laborer, a rickshaw puller, an orphan, an incurable invalid, and a destitute Frenchman--and how they navigated the ups and downs of the regional rice trade and the institutions of French colonial rule in the first half of the twentieth century. "Down and Out in Saigon is marked by three qualities that endow it with unusual value: the originality of its subject matter, as the first and only history of colonial Saigon's poor population, the excellence of its research, and Cherry's elegant prose."--Peter B. Zinoman, University of California, Berkeley "This is more than a corrective of revolutionary historiography--it is a tour de force that brings marginal and forgotten lives into the story of modern Vietnamese history."--Charles Keith, author of Catholic Vietnam: A Church from Empire to Nation


Getting Out of Saigon

Getting Out of Saigon

Author: Ralph White

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2023-04-04

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1982195193

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A “captivating” (The Washington Post) true story of “courage, resolve, and determination” (Christian Science Monitor), author Ralph White’s successful effort to save nearly the entire staff of the Saigon branch of Chase Manhattan bank and their families before the city fell to the North Vietnamese Army. In April 1975, Ralph White was asked by his boss to transfer from the Bangkok branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank to the Saigon Branch. He was tasked with closing the branch if and when it appeared that Saigon would fall to the North Vietnamese army and ensure the safety of the senior Vietnamese employees. But when he arrived, he realized the situation in Saigon was far more perilous than he had imagined. The senior staff members there urged him to evacuate the entire staff of the branch and their families, which was far more than he was authorized to do. Quickly he realized that no one would be safe when the city fell, and it was no longer a question of whether to evacuate but how. Getting Out of Saigon is an “edge-of-your-seat” (Oprah Daily) story of a city on the eve of destruction and the colorful characters who respond differently to impending doom. It’s a remarkable account of one man’s quest to save innocent lives not because he was ordered but because it was the right thing to do.


Inside Out & Back Again

Inside Out & Back Again

Author: Thanhha Lai

Publisher: Univ. of Queensland Press

Published: 2013-03-01

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 0702251178

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Moving to America turns H&à's life inside out. For all the 10 years of her life, H&à has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by, and the beauty of her very own papaya tree. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. H&à and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, H&à discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape, and the strength of her very own family. This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.


Last Men Out

Last Men Out

Author: Bob Drury

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2012-04-03

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 143916102X

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"Last Men Out" tells the riveting story of the last 11 United States soldiers to escape South Vietnam on April, 30, 1975, the day America ended its combat presence.


Destination Saigon

Destination Saigon

Author: Walter Mason

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Published: 2014-05-14

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 1741768098

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Get a taste of the real Vietnam and its people on a sometimes funny, always fascinating journey from the bustling cities to the out of the way villages, into Buddhist monasteries and along the Mekong - a real delight for armchair travellers and those contemplating their own adventure.


Sigh, Gone

Sigh, Gone

Author: Phuc Tran

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Published: 2020-04-21

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1250194725

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For anyone who has ever felt like they don't belong, Sigh, Gone shares an irreverent, funny, and moving tale of displacement and assimilation woven together with poignant themes from beloved works of classic literature. In 1975, during the fall of Saigon, Phuc Tran immigrates to America along with his family. By sheer chance they land in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a small town where the Trans struggle to assimilate into their new life. In this coming-of-age memoir told through the themes of great books such as The Metamorphosis, The Scarlet Letter, The Iliad, and more, Tran navigates the push and pull of finding and accepting himself despite the challenges of immigration, feelings of isolation, and teenage rebellion, all while attempting to meet the rigid expectations set by his immigrant parents. Appealing to fans of coming-of-age memoirs such as Fresh Off the Boat, Running with Scissors, or tales of assimilation like Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Displaced and The Refugees, Sigh, Gone explores one man’s bewildering experiences of abuse, racism, and tragedy and reveals redemption and connection in books and punk rock. Against the hairspray-and-synthesizer backdrop of the ‘80s, he finds solace and kinship in the wisdom of classic literature, and in the subculture of punk rock, he finds affirmation and echoes of his disaffection. In his journey for self-discovery Tran ultimately finds refuge and inspiration in the art that shapes—and ultimately saves—him.


Eating Viet Nam

Eating Viet Nam

Author: Graham Holliday

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2015-03-17

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 0062293079

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A journalist and blogger takes us on a colorful and spicy gastronomic tour through Viet Nam in this entertaining, offbeat travel memoir, with a foreword by Anthony Bourdain. Growing up in a small town in northern England, Graham Holliday wasn’t keen on travel. But in his early twenties, a picture of Hanoi sparked a curiosity that propelled him halfway across the globe. Graham didn’t want to be a tourist in an alien land, though; he was determined to live it. An ordinary guy who liked trying interesting food, he moved to the capital city and embarked on a quest to find real Vietnamese food. In Eating Viet Nam, he chronicles his odyssey in this strange, enticing land infused with sublime smells and tastes. Traveling through the back alleys and across the boulevards of Hanoi—where home cooks set up grills and stripped-down stands serving sumptuous fare on blue plastic furniture—he risked dysentery, giardia, and diarrhea to discover a culinary treasure-load that was truly foreign and unique. Holliday shares every bite of the extraordinary fresh dishes, pungent and bursting with flavor, which he came to love in Hanoi, Saigon, and the countryside. Here, too, are the remarkable people who became a part of his new life, including his wife, Sophie. A feast for the senses, funny, charming, and always delicious, Eating Viet Nam will inspire armchair travelers, curious palates, and everyone itching for a taste of adventure.


Song of Saigon

Song of Saigon

Author: Anh Vu Sawyer

Publisher: Faithwords

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9780446692892

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A haunting memoir describes growing up in the shadow of the Vietnam War, the desperate struggle of one family to survive amid the chaos of the fall of Saigon and its aftermath, their escape to freedom, and the return to Vietnam on a personal humanitarian mission. Reprint.


Saigon at War

Saigon at War

Author: Heather Marie Stur

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2020-06-11

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 1107161924

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An examination of the political and cultural dynamism of the Republic of Vietnam until its collapse on April 30, 1975.


My Saigon: The Local Guide to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

My Saigon: The Local Guide to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Author: Elly Thuy Nguyen

Publisher: Elly Thuy Nguyen

Published: 2024-01-21

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13:

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Experience real Saigon: My Saigon 2024 Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) offers bustling streets, amazing walks, too-hip-for-you cafes, rocking music clubs, luxurious salons, explosively delicious restaurants, and indoor cat zoos. Saigon is Vietnam. It’s young, practical, crowded, and a little bit brash. Most visitors to Saigon see the same boring “attractions”: boring restaurants, tourist-trap markets, and War propaganda. Saigon has so much more to experience than tourists see. My Saigon gives you the insider track: the most amazing experiences, the cultural backstories, the practical go-to tips, the best coffee, the best food (far beyond pho and banh mi), the best hangouts, the coolest stuff, and hipsters, hipsters everywhere. Details about 90-day and multi-entry electronic visas to Vietnam (new as of August, 2023). Big-picture navigation. History your tour guides aren't allowed to mention. Good hotels for cheap, without hostels, bedbugs, and weird smells. Get mobile data up and running without being scammed. The best pho in Saigon: no, it's not the one in the backpacker district. Awesome, authentic, cheap restaurants where my friends and I eat -- and Tripadvisor has no clue about. Coffee. Did someone say coffee? 1930s coffee, street coffee, "specialty" coffee, all kinds of coffee: I'll tell you where. Hang out with Vietnamese people, munch on dried squid, listen to Viet Pop (if you dare). Make cool friends, date guys or girls, whatever flag you might fly. Bust out with Saigonese slang to make your new friends laugh. Watch out for Saigon's mafia: they run the streets, and they don't announce themselves. Don't unintentionally offend people by wearing a popular tourist souvenir t-shirt. You definitely shouldn't give money to beggars and street kids. Avoiding taxi scams in Saigon is so easy, but most tourists refuse to learn. My Saigon is a guide, a love confessional, an instruction manual, and an ode to the city.