Andrew Lam, my personal favorite Vietnamese writer, is back with another wonderful book. This one, Birds of Paradise Lost, is fiction, although it is so heart-reaching and detailed in it is in its portrayal of Vietnamese people who have had to make new lives in America that I originally thought it was a collection of real biographies. His skill and talent are such that even his fiction drew me into a world of reality. Andrew is so emotionally generous in his writing, such an exuberant part of a modern world in the way he lives, and has a way of making others feel graceful in his presence that his success is no surprise. To hear him talk about his life and his transition from Vietnamese child to American adult is a lesson in joyous possibilities.
