The Gangster We Are All Looking For

The highly acclaimed novel that reveals the life of a Vietnamese family in America through the knowing eyes of a child finding her place and voice in a new country.

“A brilliant evocation of human sorrow and desire.... Heartbreaking and exhilarating.” —The New York Times Book Review

In 1978 six refugees—a girl, her father, and four “uncles”—are pulled from the sea to begin a new life in San Diego. In the child’s imagination, the world is transmuted into an unearthly realm: she sees everythin...