Overview

Catching Shrimp with Bare Hands is the true story of Luong La, a boy growing up in the Mekong Delta in the midst of the Vietnam War. When the 1968 Tet Offensive forces Luong's family to flee the countryside, his mother continues to travel back and forth to their island farm despite threats from the Viet Cong and nearby firefights. Out on their farm in the middle of the Mekong River, Luong wants to catch fish and slingshot birds, but Viet Cong, called mysterious misters by the villagers, stop by his family's hut and stay. ""The frog dies because of its big mouth,"" his mother warns. The mysterious misters behead a neighbor, and Luong's aunt goes missing. Luong plans to join the Army as soon as he's old enough to fight, but the war ends before he has a chance. Communism descends, pulling him back in time to a land without electricity or fuel where his family has to hide the books that haven't already been burned. Propaganda that ""kneads their skulls,"" neighbors spying on each other, and the threat of starvation drive Luong to escalating acts of defiance. About to get caught by the authorities, he drops out of school to help his family build a boat to escape.

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9780990917779

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Reviews

.. .an exquisitely researched and finely tuned memoir....Michelle has an uncanny gift for seeing the world right through the eyes of a bright kid....Her narrative never tries to 'sound' like a child, she simply is the kid....a tender but realistic look at life in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War and communist conquest... -Montecito Journal Alternately hopeful and sometimes heartbreaking, Michelle Robin La's comprehensive 487-page debut is based on her husband's childhood in his native country during and after the Vietnam War. Mostly memoir, the story centers on Mr. La but also includes his mother, Ro Thi Le, his father, Chan La, along with nine siblings as they try to survive a war that moves them from place to place while threatening to break them and their country apart. -Santa Barbara News-Press While sad at times and occasionally horrific, overall the story is one of resilience and inspiration and adds to a growing counter-narrative of Vietnamese-Americans as courageous survivors, not victims. -SV1World.com All this adds to [Michelle] Robin La as a good writer and the book as a good read. -Noozhawk

.. .an exquisitely researched and finely tuned memoir....Michelle has an uncanny gift for seeing the world right through the eyes of a bright kid....Her narrative never tries to 'sound' like a child, she simply is the kid....a tender but realistic look at life in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War and communist conquest... -Montecito Journal Alternately hopeful and sometimes heartbreaking, Michelle Robin La's comprehensive 487-page debut is based on her husband's childhood in his native country during and after the Vietnam War. Mostly memoir, the story centers on Mr. La but also includes his mother, Ro Thi Le, his father, Chan La, along with nine siblings as they try to survive a war that moves them from place to place while threatening to break them and their country apart. -Santa Barbara News-Press While sad at times and occasionally horrific, overall the story is one of resilience and inspiration and adds to a growing counter-narrative of Vietnamese-Americans as courageous survivors, not victims. -SV1World.com

...an exquisitely researched and finely tuned memoir....Michelle has an uncanny gift for seeing the world right through the eyes of a bright kid....Her narrative never tries to 'sound' like a child, she simply is the kid....a tender but realistic look at life in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War and communist conquest... -Montecito Journal Alternately hopeful and sometimes heartbreaking, Michelle Robin La's comprehensive 487-page debut is based on her husband's childhood in his native country during and after the Vietnam War. Mostly memoir, the story centers on Mr. La but also includes his mother, Ro Thi Le, his father, Chan La, along with nine siblings as they try to survive a war that moves them from place to place while threatening to break them and their country apart. -Santa Barbara News-Press While sad at times and occasionally horrific, overall the story is one of resilience and inspiration and adds to a growing counter-narrative of Vietnamese-Americans as courageous survivors, not victims. -SV1World.com All this adds to [Michelle] Robin La as a good writer and the book as a good read. -Noozhawk

"""...an exquisitely researched and finely tuned memoir....Michelle has an uncanny gift for seeing the world right through the eyes of a bright kid....Her narrative never tries to 'sound' like a child, she simply is the kid....a tender but realistic look at life in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War and communist conquest..."" -Montecito Journal ""Alternately hopeful and sometimes heartbreaking, Michelle Robin La's comprehensive 487-page debut is based on her husband's childhood in his native country during and after the Vietnam War. Mostly memoir, the story centers on Mr. La but also includes his mother, Ro Thi Le, his father, Chan La, along with nine siblings as they try to survive a war that moves them from place to place while threatening to break them and their country apart."" -Santa Barbara News-Press ""While sad at times and occasionally horrific, overall the story is one of resilience and inspiration and adds to a growing counter-narrative of Vietnamese-Americans as courageous survivors, not victims."" -SV1World.com ""All this adds to [Michelle] Robin La as a good writer and the book as a good read.""-Noozhawk"

Author Information

Michelle Robin La's fascination with her husband's stories inspired her to write this memoir of his childhood in Vietnam. Michelle and Luong live in Santa Barbara, California with their three children. michellerobinla.com

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