5/7, Wednesday. 7pm. A sold-out author event, Viet Thanh Nguyen and Shawn Wong discuss “To Save and Destroy”.
I don't have a ticket. Arrived at 7pm to see if there was space, and yes there was. Very much enjoyed it.
Viet Thanh Nguyen had a shiny hair cut, a little flashy. First he talked about him being left in a library at a young age, picking up English from the books, as he grew away from his parents. A little bit about his sister who was left in Vietnam when his family fled when he was just 4 years old. At the discussion with Shawn, he talked about being "others", need to speak up for "others", not just for Vietnamese, or just for Asians, but for all the "others", those who don't conform, those whom were looked down and discriminated. At Q&A, he expressed the sadness of so many universities capitulated to Trump's threat of removal of funding. He is not shy of talking about money. Both are well spoken, sharp, and clear, critical.
I sat the 2nd last row. 4 students of Shawn were sitting in the last row. They said that they were reading Viet Thanh Nguyen's A Man of Two Faces in class.
