ANDREW LAM / East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres

From cuisine and martial arts to sex and self-esteem, East Eats Westshines new light on the bridges and crossroads where two hemispheres meld intoone worldwide "immigrant nation." In this new nation, with itsamalgamation of divergent ideas, tastes, and styles, today's bold fusionbecomes tomorrow's classic. But while the space between East and West continuesto shrink in this age of globalization, some cultural gaps remain.

 

In this collection of twenty-one personal essays, AndrewLam, the award-winning author of PerfumeDreams, continues to explore the Vietnamese diaspora, this timeconcentrating not only on how the East and West have changed but how they arechanging each other. Part memoir, part meditation, and part culturalanthropology, East Eats West isabout thriving in the West with one foot still in the East.

AndrewLam is an editor and cofounder of NewAmerica Media, an association of over two thousand ethnic media outlets in America.His essays have appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines across thecountry, and his short stories are anthologized widely. Followed by a film crewback to his homeland, Vietnam,he was featured in the documentary My Journey Home, which aired nationwide on PBSin 2004. His book PerfumeDreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora won a PEN AmericanBeyond Margins award in 2006. Lam currently lives in San Francisco.

"Once an awedyoung refugee from Vietnam,Andrew Lam can still view Americawith wonder. Our country is becoming Asian—culture, religion, food, media—allinfluenced by diasporas from countries that were enemies and allies. Alarmedand delighted, I voraciously read East Eats West."

—Maxine Hong Kingston, author of I Love a Broad Margin to My Life

"Don't be fooledby the seductive beauty of [Lam's] prose--underneath its iridescent surface, itcomes with the wicked kick of Sriracha chili sauce."

—Sandip Roy, host of New America Now Radio and commentatoron NPR's Morning Edition

"Andrew Lamdevours the American experience with fresh eyes, keen insight, and a lyricalvoice. He is a natural storyteller on a journey of discovery across continentsand cultures, and we're lucky to be along for the ride."

—Scott James, New York Times columnist and author of SoMa and The Sower

"In these lovely,wise, probing essays, Andrew Lam not only illuminates the crucialtwenty-first-century issues of immigration and cultural identity but thegreater, enduring issues of what it means to be human. East Eats West is acompelling book, and an important one."

—Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain

"Futurehistorians will have the pleasure of chronicling how through his deft essaysAndrew Lam bridged, fused, and reconciled Asia, Vietnam, Vietnamese America,contemporary California, American culture as a whole, and the English languageinto one interactive symbiosis, his and all of ours, for now and for decades tocome."

—Kevin Starr, University Professor and professor of history,University of Southern California

"Lam describesour new Pacific world in prose that is subtle, mesmerizing, andunforgettable."

—Jeff Chang, author of Can'tStop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-HopGeneration and Who We Be: TheColorization of America

"No one writesabout being Vietnamese and American with a finer sadness or a richer sense ofirony or greater humor than Andrew Lam."

—Richard Rodriguez, author of Brown: The Last Discovery of America