Vietnamese-American author Viet Thanh Nguyen begins his debut novel with the words: “I am a spy, a sleeper, a spook, a man of two faces. Perhaps not surprisingly, I am also a man of two minds.” Utterly gripping and fiercely honest, The Sympathizer follows a half-French, half-Vietnamese mole in Saigon in the final days of the Vietnam War—seamlessly weaving a moving love story with astute observations of extreme politics and unavoidable questions of loyalty. Through a life divided between two worlds, Nguyen examines the legacy of the Vietnam War in the media we consume and the wars we fight today, in a book that would go on to earn him a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Since then, Nguyen has written plenty on immigration, politics and culture. His newest memoir, A Man of Two Faces—a nod to the opening line of his debut novel—looks back on his own life with lyricism and wit. At once deeply personal and insightfully expansive, the book delves into his identity as a father and a son, as well as larger stories of refugee-hood, colonisation and ideas about Vietnam and America.
In town for the Singapore Writers Festival this year, he rounds up the six books he has enjoyed most in 2023—each one a riveting and poignant read.
1 / 6
'Orphan Bachelors' by Fae Myenne Ng
“Fae Myenne Ng’s first novel, Bone, was transformative for me. It depicts Chinese immigrant and second generation life in San Francisco’s Chinatown, and cuts to the bone. Orphan Bachelors is Ng’s memoir of that same place and it vividly connects Chinese immigrant history to the Asian American present—telling of a life built in a nation insistent on exclusion.”
2 / 6
'Trust' by Hernan Diaz
“One of two novels that won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2023, Trust is an epic and surprising account of how a financier helped shape the US in the 20th century. For a novel of such intelligence, it is highly readable and absolutely memorable.”
3 / 6
'Demon Copperhead' by Barbara Kingsolver
“As the other Pulitzer Prize winner for Fiction, this novel is a smart rewriting of Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield. Set in the poor white communities of Appalachia, it features a sensitive young protagonist who is absolutely winning in his voice and insight.”
4 / 6
'The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist' by Emile Habiby
“The great critic Edward Said thought very highly of this Palestinian novel. The journey of its Candide-like protagonist is surreal, funny and haunting—and with Palestine still embroiled in political turmoil, the story retains its edge.”
5 / 6
'A State of Freedom' by Neel Mukherjee
“Through a range of characters whose lives eventually intersect, Neel Mukherjee portrays a contemporary India sharply divided between the haves and the have-nots. This is a novel that is both intimate and gothic, sharp and poignant.”
6 / 6
'Home Fire' by Kamila Shamsie
“This utterly relevant novel of contemporary Britain, America and Pakistan starts with the quiet tension of an unjust security screening at Heathrow Airport. Gradually, inexorably, it builds a gripping plot that illustrates the costs of the war on terrorism.”
The November ‘Play’ issue of Vogue Singapore is available for sale online and in-store now.
